The stabilizing and unstabilizing influences of neurogenic and vascular activities of the heart as related to sudden cardiac death

Sudden unexpected cardio-respiratory arrest after venipuncture in children

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the clinical and socioenvironmental characteristics of sudden cardiorespiratory arrest after venipuncture in children.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective email-based survey of all members of the Korean Pediatric Society. The questionnaire included items on patient demographics, socioenvironmental circumstances of the venipuncture, type of cardiorespiratory arrest, symptoms and signs, treatment, prognosis, and presumed cause of the arrest.

Results

Fourteen patients were identified. Of these, 13 were young children (<2 years old), and 1 was 14 years old. All patients had been previously healthy and had no specific risk factors for sudden cardiorespiratory arrest. Most cases (n=11, 79%) were defined as cardiac or cardiorespiratory arrest, while the remaining cases (n=3, 21%) were defined as respiratory arrest. Aspiration (n=3), acute myocarditis (n=2), and laryngeal chemoreflex (n=1) were presumed as the causes; however, the exact causes were unclear. The overall prognosis was poor (death, n=7; morbidity, n=5; full recovery, n=2). The medical institutions faced severe backlash because of these incidents (out-of-court settlement, n=5; medical lawsuit, n=5; continuous harassment, n=3).

Conclusion

Cardiorespiratory arrest after venipuncture is unpredictable and the probable cause of most cases is a vasovagal reaction. Medical personnel must be aware of the risk of unexpected cardiorespiratory arrest during routine intravenous procedures.

Vasovagal syncope with asystole associated with intravenous access

Two cases of vasovagal syncope (VVS) during venous access are reported. Both patients had a history of fainting episodes and experienced bradycardia with asystole, hypotension, and fainting. Pain and phobic stress during venous access triggered an increase in parasympathetic tone, resulting in bradycardia with asystole and hypotension in both cases. Hypotension and bradycardia likely caused cerebral hypoperfusion, leading to fainting. The intense parasympathetic tone triggered by somatic or emotional stress was likely responsible for directly depressing the sinus node, leading to asystole and bradycardia. Bradycardia with asystole progressing to syncope is a potentially fatal dysrhythmia in patients with cardiovascular disease or older patients with decreased cardiac function. Appropriate treatment for VVS includes the administration of intravenous fluids, vagolytics, ephedrine, and the rapid use of the Trendelenburg position. Intravenous fluids and atropine were used to treat the present patients.

Donor reactions and injuries from whole blood donation

In this review of common and uncommon donor reactions and injuries, donation-associated deaths were found to be extremely rare and generally thought to be coincidental; the rate of coincidental deaths was less than what would be expected based on life insurance tables. Vasovagal reactions, hematomas/bruises, and history of irritation or allergic reaction to adhesive tape or skin preparations are observed daily in a busy blood collection center. Syncopal vasovagal reactions sometimes resemble shock, but unlike shock, they reverse themselves and do not cause death. Through good management, a blood donor organization can minimize the incidence of syncope. Accidental arterial venipuncture is very uncommon (1 in 100,000), and donors with arterial punctures do well if pressure is applied for an extended period of time. Rarely, a pseudoaneurysm results, and this requires surgery. AV fistulas and compartment syndromes can also occur, but these are extremely rare; most experienced blood center physicians have never observed a case. Neurologic needle injuries occur approximately once in every 6,300 donations. Although neurologic needle injury complaints are usually received within 10 days of blood donation, 10% of the injured donors may complain weeks to months later. Most donors with needle injuries recover within a month and many within a day or two, but approximately 30% will have a recovery period of greater than 1 month and an occasional case may exceed 6 months. Donors with neurologic needle injuries generally have a full recovery, even when the recovery period may be extended. Thrombophlebitis has a low incidence (1 in 50,000 to 1 in 100,000), and infection at the phlebotomy site is rare. Both are easily treated and have little impact on the donor's health.

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease and death: a clinical perspective

Coronary artery disease has been demonstrated to conform to the principles of an epidemic disease. Therefore, the incidence of the occurrence of the disease is dependent in large part on "disturbances of human culture." These primarily include a cholesterol-rich diet, obesity, cigarette smoking, elevated blood pressure and sedentary life-style. It is gratifying that during the last quarter of a century, large segments of society in the United States have modified many of their adverse patterns of living. As a result, there has been a striking decline in both the incidence of the diagnosis of coronary artery disease and the frequency of premature death due to the disease process. Sudden cardiac death is frequently an unexpected first clinical manifestation of coronary artery disease and, despite heroic efforts, treatment of sudden death victims is frequently unsuccessful. Furthermore, progression of coronary artery disease, even in patients who present with angina pectoris or acute myocardial infarction, is unpredictable. Coronary arteriography, the "gold standard" used for evaluation, gives insight primarily into anatomy and ventricular function (under experimental conditions) existing at a given instant in time. Which lesions are serious and likely to progress are usually unknown, even to the most experienced angiographer. Therefore, surgical and catheter-directed therapeutic approaches are at best only "shotgun" or partial techniques. For these reasons, the principal and continuing therapeutic efforts to reduce the occurrence and control the ravages of coronary artery disease should be directed toward prevention. Such efforts should begin in early childhood and become a lifelong practice, one that all physicians, including the most procedure-dominated specialists, should personally adopt and teach.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)