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Respiratory arrest is a serious medical condition caused by apnea or respiratory dysfunction severe enough that it will not sustain the body (such as agonal breathing). Prolonged apnea refers to a patient who has stopped breathing for a long period of time. If the heart muscle contraction is intact, the condition is known as respiratory arrest.
Respiratory arrest is the only lung condition to cause coma, but many different lung conditions can cause decreased level of consciousness, but do not reach coma. Other causes of coma include severe or persistent seizures, kidney failure, liver failure, hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and infections involving the brain, like meningitis and ...
Respiratory arrest can be caused by pulmonary embolus, choking, drowning, trauma, drug overdose, and poisoning. [3] Pulmonary embolus carries a high mortality rate and may be the triggering cause for up to 5% of cardiac arrests, according to a retrospective study from an urban tertiary care emergency department.
Rising levels of carbon dioxide signal the body to breathe and resume unconscious respiration forcibly. The lungs start to feel as if they are burning, and the signals the body receives from the brain when CO 2 levels are too high include strong, painful, and involuntary contractions or spasms of the diaphragm and the muscles in between the ...
Agonal respiration, gasping respiration, or agonal breathing is a distinct and abnormal pattern of breathing and brainstem reflex characterized by gasping labored breathing and is accompanied by strange vocalizations and myoclonus.
Initial symptoms may include heart asystole and respiratory arrest. [1] While the asystole may spontaneously resolve fairly rapidly, the respiratory arrest is typically more prolonged. [1] Other symptoms may include burns and blunt injuries. [1] Of those who survive, about 75% have ongoing health problems as a result, such as cataracts and ...
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation, or mouth to mouth in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest.
Hypoventilation is not synonymous with respiratory arrest, in which breathing ceases entirely and death occurs within minutes due to hypoxia and leads rapidly into complete anoxia, although both are medical emergencies. Hypoventilation can be considered a precursor to hypoxia, and its lethality is attributed to hypoxia with carbon dioxide toxicity.