Atrial Fibrillation | cdc.gov

What is atrial fibrillation?

Atrial fibrillation, often called AFib or AF, is the most common type of treated heart arrhythmia. An arrhythmia is when the heart beats too slowly, too fast, or in an irregular way.

When a person has AFib, the normal beating in the upper chambers of the heart (the two atria) is irregular, and blood doesn’t flow as well as it should from the atria to the lower chambers of the heart (the two ventricles). AFib may happen in brief episodes, or it may be a permanent condition.

Facts About AFib

• It is estimated that 12.1 million people in the United States will have AFib in 2030.^1,2
• In 2019, AFib was mentioned on 183,321 death certificates and was the underlying cause of death in 26,535 of those deaths.³
• People of European descent are more likely to have AFib than African Americans.
• Because the number of AFib cases increases with age and women generally live longer than men, more women than men experience AFib.

What are the symptoms of AFib?

Some people who have AFib don’t know they have it and don’t have any symptoms. Others may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• Irregular heartbeat
• Heart palpitations (rapid, fluttering, or pounding)
• Lightheadedness
• Extreme fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain

What are the risk factors for AFib?

The risk for AFib increases with age. High blood pressure, the risk for which also increases with advancing age, accounts for about 1 in 5 cases of AFib.⁴

Risk factors for AFib include^4,5

• Advancing age
• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• European ancestry
• Diabetes
• Heart failure
• Ischemic heart disease
• Hyperthyroidism
• Chronic kidney disease
• Moderate to heavy alcohol use
• Smoking
• Enlargement of the chambers on the left side of the heart

How is AFib related to stroke?

AFib increases a person’s risk for stroke. When standard stroke risk factors were accounted for, AFib was associated with an approximately fivefold increased risk of ischemic stroke.⁶ AFib causes about 1 in 7 strokes.⁷

Strokes caused by complications from AFib tend to be more severe than strokes with other underlying causes. Strokes happen when blood flow to the brain is blocked by a blood clot or by fatty deposits called plaque in the blood vessel lining.

How is AFib treated?

Treatment for AFib can include

• Medicines to control the heart’s rhythm and rate
• Blood-thinning medicine to prevent blood clots from forming and reduce stroke risk
• Surgery
• Medicine and healthy lifestyle changes to manage AFib risk factors

What are the consequences of AFib?

More than 454,000 hospitalizations with AFib as the primary diagnosis happen each year in the United States.⁴ The condition contributes to about 158,000 deaths each year.³ The death rate from AFib as the primary or a contributing cause of death has been rising for more than two decades. ⁷

The map shows that concentrations of counties with the highest Cardiac Dysrhythmia Hospitalization Rates – meaning the top quintile – are located primarily in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan. Pockets of high-rate counties also were found in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, South Carolina, Indiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Maine.

More Information

• Million Hearts^®
• Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program
• State and Local Public Health Actions
• WISEWOMAN

Complications of AFib: Is It Ever Fatal?

Atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is also known as AF or AFib. It’s a condition in which your heart doesn’t beat normally.

If you have AFib, the two upper chambers of your heart, known as your atria, beat out of rhythm with the lower chambers. As a result, your heart works harder, is less efficient, and doesn’t circulate blood properly throughout your body.

Symptoms of AFib can include fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath.

AFib is a serious diagnosis. While this condition isn’t fatal in itself, it can lead to potentially life-threatening complications. Two of the most common complications of AFib are stroke and heart failure, both of which can be fatal if not managed quickly and effectively.

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries blood to your brain becomes blocked. This prevents oxygen-rich blood from reaching your brain. When your brain is deprived of oxygen, it can be permanently damaged. This can result in lasting disability or even death.

According to the American Heart Association, people with AFib are about five times more likely to experience a stroke than the average person. When blood isn’t circulating through your body properly, blood clots are more likely to form. These clots can travel to your brain, become lodged in narrow blood vessels, and cause a stroke.

What are the symptoms of a stroke?

The symptoms of a stroke are often easily recognizable. They can include:

• numbness or weakness on one side of your body
• drooping on one side of your face
• loss of balance or coordination or a sudden inability to walk
• sudden difficulty seeing, especially in only one eye
• suddenly feelings of confusion or disorientation
• sudden headache

What should you do in case of a stroke?

If you think you may be having a stroke, call 911 or other emergency number. Or find someone who can get emergency medical help for you. Getting immediate medical attention is essential. Early treatment for stroke can improve your prognosis.

Heart failure occurs when your heart is unable to pump blood efficiently. If you have AFib, your heart may not be able to pump blood forcefully or efficiently enough to push it to where it needs to go. That’s why you’re more likely to develop heart failure if you have AFib.

What are the symptoms of heart failure?

Heart failure tends to develop over time. The warning signs may appear gradually. Some possible symptoms include:

• fatigue
• nausea
• loss of appetite
• shortness of breath or trouble breathing
• persistent wheezing or coughing
• fluid buildup and swelling in your abdomen, legs, and ankles
• confusion or disorientation
• rapid heart beat

What should you do in case of heart failure?

In many cases, it’s possible to live for years with heart failure. It’s more common than you might think. An estimated 5.7 million Americans live with the condition, reports the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

If you develop symptoms of heart failure, make an appointment with your doctor. They can help you identify the underlying cause of your condition and develop a treatment plan. For example, they may recommend lifestyle changes or medications. In some cases, they may suggest surgery or other procedures. Following your doctor’s recommended treatment plan can help improve your outlook.

If you’re diagnosed with AFib, it’s important to follow your doctor’s recommended treatment plan. For example, take medications as prescribed and adjust your lifestyle if needed.

Practicing heart-healthy habits can help lower your risk of complications, including stroke and heart failure. For example:

• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Get regular exercise, including aerobic exercise.
• Eat a well-balanced diet that’s low in salt, saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol.
• Limit your consumption of alcohol and caffeine.
• Avoid tobacco products and second-hand smoke.
• Maintain healthy blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood glucose levels.
• Attend regular checkups with your doctor and report any changes to your health.

It’s also important to take steps to maintain good mental health. For example:

• Maintain positive friendships.
• Make time for hobbies you enjoy.
• Practice stress-relief strategies such as meditation, rhythmic breathing, or journaling.
• Seek professional help for mental health conditions such as depression.

In addition to AFib, several other health conditions can also raise your risk of stroke and heart failure. These include:

• obesity
• high blood pressure
• coronary artery disease
• diabetes

If you’ve been diagnosed with any of these conditions, or other chronic health problems, follow your doctor’s recommended treatment plan.

When you have AFib, it’s important to work closely with your doctor to manage your symptoms and reduce your risk of complications. With proper treatment, it’s possible to live a long and enjoyable life. But it’s up to you to follow your doctor’s recommendations and stay as healthy as you can.

Atrial fibrillation

A.D. – The cycle of these broadcasts is dedicated to the human heart, the heart in all its complexities, risks and opportunities, opportunities to prolong the health of the heart and, accordingly, one’s own life. Olga Leonidovna, we are used to the fact that our heart beats rhythmically, keeping us confident that everything is in order, in general, everything is in order in life. But sometimes the rhythm of the heart is disturbed. We will discuss one of the types of such a violation, called atrial fibrillation, in today’s program, or rather, Olga Leonidovna will dedicate us to the secrets of atrial fibrillation and to ways to prevent and treat this disease – atrial fibrillation.

O.B. – I must say that atrial fibrillation is a concept that we meet among citizens who are not related to medicine. In the medical world, this disease is called atrial fibrillation. Why it is called that, I will now tell you, and why this concept of atrial fibrillation exists, I will also return to this. I want to say that this is the most common heart disease, so we hear this phrase so often, which not only reduces the quality of life of people, but also leads to serious complications, such as stroke, the development of heart failure, the development of various thromboembolism, that is, when blood clots fall into various vessels and cause the death of a part of an organ of some kind. So, atrial fibrillation or atrial fibrillation is a lot of foci of electrical activity that should not be in the heart. We have one pacemaker in our heart, which is called the sinus node, with atrial fibrillation or fibrillation, there are many such tricks that all start working at the same time and cause a chaotic contraction of the left atrium, a specific chamber of the heart, where, as a rule, atrial fibrillation develops . These chaotic contractions in medicine are called fibrillation. Since visually they seem to resemble the twinkling of stars, they were given such a name – atrial fibrillation. In the old days, this disease was called delirium of the heart, since the pulse becomes very irregular in this case.

A.D, – Atrial fibrillation is not dangerous in itself, but dangerous in its consequences.

O.B. – You cannot die from atrial fibrillation or atrial fibrillation, but it is poorly tolerated by patients, and dangerous for its consequences, the most terrible of them is a stroke. A stroke occurs due to the fact that with this disease, the blood in the left atrium, as we have already said, moves very slowly, slowing blood flow leads to the formation of blood clots, then blood clots enter the main chamber of the heart – the left ventricle, and from there they can be carried with the blood flow to any organ. Since the brain is the main organ by which a person lives, a stroke, of course, the death of a part of the brain can lead not only to disability, but also to death. In the same way, myocardial infarction can develop if a blood clot enters the vessels of the heart. There may also be gangrene of the arm or leg when a blood clot enters other areas. In addition, of course, the high pulse itself, which is most often found in arrhythmias, leads to the fact that the heart works with overload and develops heart failure, which can also subsequently lead to very unpleasant consequences.

A.D. – If we talk about the causes of atrial fibrillation, then there are probably reasons that depend on us, for example, which we cause by the wrong way of life, but there are dictated by nature, given from above. Am I correct in this part?

O.B. – You guessed absolutely right. Firstly, there are several forms of atrial fibrillation, which are precisely associated with the causes of occurrence, that is, clinically they all proceed in the same way, but the causes are different. One of the most common causes is arterial hypertension, which we will talk about in due course. There is a form of so-called isolated atrial fibrillation, when there are local foci in certain anatomical structures of the heart. There are some genetic causes that we also cannot but foresee, prevent, we can only treat with drugs later, since they occur at a very subtle level, at the level of ion channels. There are causes associated with heart defects. This is probably the second most common, I think in our country for sure, defects of the mitral valve, with the prolonged existence of which the development of atrial fibrillation or atrial fibrillation is inevitable. And other defects associated with an increase in pressure in the region of the left atrium, I will not just go into details, but all these defects can lead to the development of arrhythmias. Another reason is coronary heart disease, when the atrial tissue is ischemic, a certain occurrence of polyfibrosis occurs, that is, the degeneration of normal muscle tissue into fibrous tissue, and due to this, foci of electrical activity arise. There are inflammatory diseases of the myocardium caused by viruses, which has also become very common recently. Or age-related changes in fibrous tissue, the mechanisms are exactly the same as in ischemia. In addition, alcohol intoxication, not even permanent, but periodic, it can also cause electrolyte imbalance, that is, a change in the ratio of various minerals and blood electrolytes and lead to the development of atrial fibrillation. Severe infections can also contribute to intoxication, but these will be episodic cases that do not require special treatment. Endocrine disorders, most often damage to the thyroid gland, as a rule, especially in advanced forms, are also complicated by atrial fibrillation.

A.D. – Let us remind our radio listeners and listeners that Olga Bokeria, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Chief Researcher of the Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery named after Bakulev, is visiting our radio station today. And the topic of our today’s conversation, one of the topics in a series of programs dedicated to the health of the human heart, is atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation and its manifestations, atrial fibrillation of the heart, that is, what should we feel, what is happening in the body?

O.B. – As a rule, people feel a violation of the rhythm, although there are cases when a person does not feel that he has atrial fibrillation, the so-called asymptomatic forms. If a person feels, then he feels a heartbeat, it, as a rule, is non-rhythmic, that is, the feeling that the heart either beats or does not beat. If the pulse is very high, then against the background of a high pulse, the output from the left ventricle becomes small, and the heart itself is ischemic, that is, a small amount of blood flows to it, which causes pain. There may be pain in it. There may be shortness of breath, that is, a feeling of difficulty in breathing, there may be weakness, dizziness associated with a small ejection, up to fainting, but this already depends on the frequency of reduction in blood pressure, which occurs in this case. Sometimes people develop frequent and profuse urination, but these are symptoms, so to speak, of episodic forms of atrial fibrillation. And as for the permanent form, then, basically, it is a heartbeat, shortness of breath and pain with a high pulse.

A.D. – If he talks about the practice of the Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery named after Bakulev, about statistics, what percentage of people, in principle, is prone to atrial fibrillation. Can it be avoided, or, in principle, does this still befall a significant part of the people, respectively, the patients who come to you?

O.B. – According to statistics, the incidence of this disease ranges from 20 to 40 new cases per 1000 people annually among men and from 20 to 30 among women. Basically, it is associated with age, the older the person, the higher the likelihood of developing left atrial fibrillation. Unfortunately, we have a lot of patients with arrhythmia, which we are talking about today, because many patients who come to us with heart defects to be operated on are in quite advanced stages. There are many patients who, unfortunately, suffer from myocarditis, including at an early age. Therefore, we, almost daily, meet several patients with such a rhythm disorder. And now I want to say more about, for example, mitral defects, in which atrial fibrillation is such an almost constant companion of this disease that the development of left atrial fibrillation with mitral defect indicates decompensation of cardiac activity.

A.D. – What does it mean?

O.B. – This means that a person with a mitral defect may not know for a very long time that he has a defect if he has not been examined, because this is a disease that the heart can compensate for a very long time at the expense of some internal resources. As soon as a rhythm disruption occurs, it is one hundred percent atrial fibrillation or atrial fibrillation, and this means that the heart can no longer work normally and provide the body with the necessary amount of oxygen. As for the prevention of atrial fibrillation. Of course, in cases where it is caused by the same heart defects or high blood pressure or cardiac ischemia, then this is all in our power. You need to be examined regularly. People suffering from frequent sore throats are required at least once in their lives, at a fairly young age, for example, after graduating from school or at an institute, at the age of, say, 30 years, to undergo a heart examination to determine the presence or absence of heart valve disease, such as a rule that occurs against the background of severe tonsillitis and can be completely asymptomatic. People with high blood pressure should monitor the size of their heart, that is, they need to do an ultrasound, see if everything is normal there, record an electrocardiogram, and then it is possible to track the changes that will occur to them over the next years in order to assess the possibility of developing a disorder rhythm. In case of cardiac ischemia, it needs to be corrected, restored, ischemia is a lack of oxygen supplied to the heart, that is, when a vessel is closed, it needs to be recanalized, that is, patency is restored so that this part of the heart, directly atrium, is not ischemic, so that our healthy conducting system of the heart worked normally, and that there were no pathological foci of fibrosis.

AD, – Olga Leonidovna, the everyday point of view boils down to the fact that if problems begin with the heart, then one problem will entail another problem and it is impossible to cure the heart completely. My question in this case is local, atrial fibrillation is treated, is it possible to cure it?

O.B. “It can be cured under certain conditions. The first condition is that we must completely eliminate the causes that caused it. That is, if these are endocrine disorders, we must cure the endocrine gland that causes them. If these are some types of intoxication, infections, alcohol, etc., this intoxication must be completely excluded. If this is a heart defect, then it is necessary to perform a surgical operation, during this operation to correct, including the rhythm, then when hemodynamics, that is, the passage of blood through the heart, is normal, then this rhythm disturbance will not occur. Another very important condition is duration, a short duration exists.

A. D. – Ignorance.

O.B. – Yes. If this is a non-permanent form, the so-called paroxysmal, when these episodes of atrial fibrillation are rare, once every six months, once every three months, and do not last long and pass on their own, the likelihood that our treatment for this person will be effective is very high. And the third factor, which is also of decisive importance, is the size of the left atrium itself. There are certain gradations that we use, and when the volume of the left atrium is measured, we can already say the likelihood of a relapse after our treatment, that is, how many percent we guarantee that this disease will not recur in a person.

A.D. – When you say “we”, you mean the center of Bakulev. What, you said, can be treated, listed the cases in which one or another therapeutic action needs to be done, these methods of treatment are present in the Bakulev center.

O.B. – Of course, they are present in our country and in all the leading clinics of the country and around the world. First of all, probably now, today, the more widely used and probably minimally invasive method of radiofrequency ablation, or these electrical foci (arrhythmogenic) that are located in certain anatomical structures, as I said, when they are eliminated by a special thermal impact. After that, the patient is prescribed special antiarrhythmic therapy for a sufficiently long period. I want to say that this time can last from three months to a year or even more, depending on the initial level of atrial fibrillation that was. Further, we also use surgical methods to eliminate this arrhythmia, especially if it is combined with congenital or acquired heart disease. That is, during the correction of heart disease, the rhythm is also corrected, a special surgical operation is performed, very complex, developed in our center. Its use began in the early 80s, and today this method is considered extremely effective, but it is associated with a large open heart surgery. In addition, there are methods of thoracoscopic technique, that is, under visual control, they are less used both in our country and around the world, since their effectiveness is less. And there is drug treatment when we prescribe antiarrhythmic drugs. The effectiveness of this treatment is largely determined by the presence of provoking moments, that is, the same increase in blood pressure, intoxication, the presence of already ischemic tissue in the atrium, and, as a rule, drug therapy is more used to control the heart rate in case of atrial fibrillation than to restore the rhythm, when it comes to permanent form. That is, I want to say that we try to either remove it completely and restore normal sinus rhythm, or, if this is not possible, we prescribe therapy so that the heart rate is comfortable, that is, up to 80 beats per minute, as is the case with normal pulse. But at the same time, atrial fibrillation remains, and in any case, a person takes anticoagulant drugs that thin the blood in order to prevent thromboembolism, strokes, heart attacks, which we talked about at the beginning.

A.D. – How to get treatment at the Bakulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery?

O. B. – You can get to us for treatment very simply, you can go directly to the reception and sign up, you can sign up by phone 414 75 90 or 414 75 91, make an appointment with a doctor for the pathology you are interested in. In addition, we have a website www.bakulev.ru, which has such a page “How to get treatment?” If a person has access to the Internet, then everything I said can be read on this page. There, among other things, talks about the economic issues that usually arise during hospitalization or examination.

Sudden cardiac death – Alexander Aladashvili Clinic

• Cardiology

What is sudden death, who is at risk and what are the symptoms?

Have you heard of sudden cardiac death? Do you know what the symptoms are? clinic doctor Alexandra Aladashvili, cardiologist Ekaterina Inauri talks about this topic in more detail.

Sudden cardiac death is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. As a result of sudden cardiac death in the United States of America, 450,000 people die every year, there are no exact statistics in Georgia; If we directly translate the US statistics in Georgia, it turns out that 3,700 people die in our country every year, that is, 10-11 people a day. Every year, 7 million cases of sudden cardiac death occur worldwide. This means that every 4 seconds one person dies. After the onset of a dangerous arrhythmia, the patient’s survival rate decreases by 8-10% every minute. 95% of these patients die before admission to the clinic.

Sudden cardiac death is death caused by heart disease that develops within 1 hour of the onset of acute symptoms. In addition, the patient may be diagnosed with heart disease, but death occurs suddenly and quickly, without aggravating the main symptoms of the underlying disease.

Who is at risk?

Sudden cardiac death often develops in active, apparently healthy patients who have not been diagnosed with any heart disease or other health problems. But, in fact, sudden cardiac death is not an accident, that is, it does not happen unreasonably. Most of these patients have heart disease or other health problems, whether they know it or not. Sudden death is mainly caused by arrhythmias: ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation or conduction disturbances. The cause of sudden cardiac death in 50% of cases is coronary heart disease; Moreover, it is often the first and only manifestation of this disease. Among other pathologies, genetic arrhythmogenic pathologies of the myocardium, cardiomyopathies, anomalies of the coronary arteries, and much more should be noted. It should be noted that in patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death, the ejection fraction is less than 35%.

Clinical picture:

Sudden cardiac death can occur both during neurophysical overload and at rest. About half of patients suffer from severe angina pain, which is often accompanied by fear of death. About a quarter of all cases of sudden cardiac death develop without any preliminary signs. In other patients, non-specific prodromal symptoms often occur within 1-2 weeks, indicating an exacerbation of the disease: an increased frequency of pain in the heart (sometimes atypical localization), shortness of breath, general weakness, decreased performance. Immediately during fibrillation or asystole, there is a sharp weakness, dizziness, and after a few minutes the patient loses consciousness. After the complete cessation of cerebral circulation, tonic contractions of skeletal muscles and noisy breathing develop. Externally, the skin is pale and cold on contact. The pupils dilate rapidly, the pulse is not detected on the carotid artery, heart sounds are not audible. There is a disappearance of the pupillary reflex and the reflex of the cornea, pathological breathing is detected. There may be some convulsive breathing movements and after 2-3 minutes breathing stops. 3 minutes after the development of fibrillation or asystole, irreversible changes develop in the cerebral cortex.

Risk factor tests

There are many tests to identify patients at high risk of cardiac arrest. They are:

Echocardiogram

This is a painless examination. Ultrasound waves are used to produce a moving image of the heart. This test allows you to determine the ejection fraction of the heart and other risk of sudden cardiac death.

ECG

This is a painless test. To record the electrical signals of the heart, electrodes are attached to the chest and extremities. This reveals an arrhythmia. Some arrhythmias have a high risk of sudden cardiac death and are life-threatening.

Holter monitor

A cell phone-sized device that attaches to a patient’s chest and records their rhythm for 24 or 48 hours. After removing the device, the doctor analyzes the records.

Event-Recorder (Event-Recorder)

Small digital device for recording paroxysmal cardiac arrhythmias, allowing longer monitoring of the patient. Unlike Holter monitoring, it does not always record the heart rhythm, the recording mode is activated only when an arrhythmia is automatically detected or if the patient feels an arrhythmia and activates the device himself.

Electrophysiological studies (EPS)

The study is carried out in the clinic under local anesthesia; Anesthesia is done in the shoulder or groin area. A thin, soft catheter is inserted through a vein under x-ray guidance into the heart to record electrical signals. During the study, the electrophysiologist examines the speed and flow of electrical signals from the heart and, conversely, stimulates the heart to determine if there will be an arrhythmia. The doctor should also find out in advance if the patient has a history of myocardial infarction. All of this information helps the doctor determine if the patient is at high risk for sudden cardiac death.

prevention

There are many ways to protect against sudden cardiac death. First of all, it is a healthy lifestyle that reduces the risk of death from heart failure or other heart diseases. This includes regular exercise, a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking. It is also important to treat and control conditions that contribute to heart problems; These include arterial hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes mellitus. Finally, in some patients, the prevention of sudden cardiac death involves treating the abnormal heart rhythm to prevent the arrhythmia from fibrillating (trigger). Arrhythmia is treated in three ways:

Medications such as AGF inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers and antiarrhythmics. Arrhythmias can be controlled or conditions that can contribute to heart disease and sudden cardiac death can be treated. However, medication alone cannot provide very effective protection against sudden cardiac death. Defibrillation is considered the most effective means of saving lives. Accordingly, in high-risk patients with already diagnosed heart disease, the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators has been widely introduced into cardiac practice. The defibrillator recognizes a fatal arrhythmia and performs the appropriate therapy (pacing, shock).

Catheter ablation

This technique involves energetically damaging that small area of ​​the heart muscle with RF energy (heating), cryotherapy (cooling), or some other form of energy that causes a dangerous, rapid arrhythmia. Energy is delivered to the heart through special catheters inserted into the heart through veins and/or arteries. Sometimes catheter ablation is performed on patients who already have an implanted cardioverter defibrillator; The goal of catheter ablation at this time is to reduce the incidence of arrhythmia and electroshock with a defibrillator.

Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)

This device is very effective in protecting against sudden cardiac death in high-risk patients. Like pacemakers, defibrillators are injected subcutaneously. One end of the electrode is connected to the subcutaneous apparatus, and the other end is connected to the heart; Thus, the subcutaneous apparatus controls the work of the heart and detects rhythm disturbances. In the event of a life-threatening arrhythmia, the electrode sends an electrical charge (electrical shock) to the heart, restoring normal heart rhythm and preventing sudden cardiac death. In the event of a slow heart rate, cardioverter defibrillators can also act as a pacemaker. The number of implants of such devices in patients with confirmed heart disease has increased tremendously over the past ten years, despite the fact that this is one of the more expensive treatments. The first implantable cardioverter was introduced in Georgia in 2003 and many such procedures have been performed to date. Since most cardiac deaths are asymptomatic or the risk of sudden cardiac death is underestimated, proper and effective prehospital resuscitation is of particular importance. Its goal is to reduce the duration of sudden cardiac death, that is, the time from the development of the condition to adequate restoration of blood circulation, in order to prevent irreversible changes in vital organs, primarily the brain. The first link in this chain is to assess the condition as sudden cardiac arrest, alert and call a qualified medical team to the scene. In addition, the witness to an accident must have basic CPR skills. Recently, the availability of defibrillators to the general public has been widely discussed. For this purpose, an external defibrillator has been developed. An automated defibrillator is one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of dealing with sudden cardiac death. Automated external defibrillators have been shown to reduce mortality in airports, aircraft, and high-risk environments such as casinos. An automated external defibrillator designed for non-medical people, easy to use and maximizes the time until qualified medical attention is received; That is, this device detects the cause of loss of consciousness, offers appropriate therapy or an algorithm of actions until qualified medical care is received.

Conclusion: Sudden cardiac death remains one of the major problems in medicine.