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cardiac arrest

cardiac arrest

48 3.7
A sudden stop of the heart that stops blood flow and can cause death if not treated
  • noun
  • /ˈkɑrdiæk əˈrɛst/
  • Specialized
translation icon : paro cardíaco
  • Immediate CPR can significantly increase the chances of survival after cardiac arrest.
  • sudden cardiac arrest
  • die of cardiac arrest
  • survive a cardiac arrest

Also, these can lead to cardiac arrest, heart attack or stroke.

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Examples

  • Sixty-five percent of the cardiac arrests occurred in children, teenagers, or young adults.

    Academic text (2007)
  • If we don't act fast, it means suffocation or cardiac arrest.

  • But some of them actually have had cardiac arrest because of this.

  • Um, a young girl is going into cardiac arrest.

  • You also have to be aware that cardiac arrest is different from a heart attack.

    Blog text (17)
  • We have a patient suffering from cardiac arrest.

  • In Simcoe County, two students suffered full cardiac arrest in the past school year.

    Blog text (5)
  • One of the most successful treatments for cardiac arrest is the education and public use of AEDs.

    Academic text (2007)
  • He had a cardiac arrest immediately and we're very fortunate in the era that we live in that we have these resources and this knowledge.

  • Anorexia and bulimia can cause an irregular heartbeat, which can lead to cardiac arrest and death.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

asystole
vscardiac arrest
  • Specialized
10 9.9

The heart stops beating and needs treatment right away to prevent death

is a broader sudden loss of effective heart function causing circulation to stop
cardiopulmonary arrest
vscardiac arrest
  • Specialized
1 5.4

When the heart and lungs suddenly stop working, breathing and heartbeat stop

is limited to sudden loss of heart pumping not necessarily breathing failure

Antonyms

577 3.0

To keep living in difficult conditions

Surface Forms

Morphology

cardiac + arrest

The phrase combines 'cardiac' (heart-related) with 'arrest' (a halt/stop), so its core meaning — the heart stopping or its function being halted — is directly derivable from the constituents. This medical compound is cross-linguistically transparent (many languages use equivalent literal constructions), so a B1 learner who knows the parts would likely grasp the basic meaning even if they lack detailed clinical knowledge.

Etymology

Cardiac arrest comes from the parts cardiac, meaning about the heart, and arrest, meaning to stop. It creates the image of the heart suddenly stopping, so it means 'the heart stops working' and blood can no longer move around the body.