tcudoc
Full Member
Post cardiac arrest protocol is to sedate, intubate, and do hypothermic therapy for, I think, 24 hours. So likely, they will know more then. Cardiac arrest outside the hospital has a very low success rate, unless there is rapid defibrillation and return of spontaneous circulation very soon afterwards.
So the key factors will include:
-Did they immediately start high quality chest compressions?
-How much time passed prior to defibrillation? Hopefully it occurred within about 5 minutes. If it was closer to ten minutes, the chances for meaningful recovery decrease.
-Getting him to the hospital for hypothermic therapy to decrease chance of brain cell death
I still think commotio cordis is most likely. Myocarditis could be an outside possibility. Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is possible, but the hit did not seem violent enough. Prexisting disease such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or Marfan syndrome could also be an outside possibility, but don’t really fit the profile of what occurred on the field. If I were a betting man, I would say 98% chance it was Commotio cordis.
I think the hit caused the fibrillation, he had enough previous blood flow to the brain to allow him to rise to stand, and then, the effect of no further blood flow to the brain led to the collapse. There was no effort to break his fall, so that is consistent with an electrical event with sudden cessation of blood flow. The rise to stand caused gravity to have an even more profound effect, therefore the sudden collapse.
So the key factors will include:
-Did they immediately start high quality chest compressions?
-How much time passed prior to defibrillation? Hopefully it occurred within about 5 minutes. If it was closer to ten minutes, the chances for meaningful recovery decrease.
-Getting him to the hospital for hypothermic therapy to decrease chance of brain cell death
I still think commotio cordis is most likely. Myocarditis could be an outside possibility. Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is possible, but the hit did not seem violent enough. Prexisting disease such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or Marfan syndrome could also be an outside possibility, but don’t really fit the profile of what occurred on the field. If I were a betting man, I would say 98% chance it was Commotio cordis.
I think the hit caused the fibrillation, he had enough previous blood flow to the brain to allow him to rise to stand, and then, the effect of no further blood flow to the brain led to the collapse. There was no effort to break his fall, so that is consistent with an electrical event with sudden cessation of blood flow. The rise to stand caused gravity to have an even more profound effect, therefore the sudden collapse.