Of nearly 500 cases analyzed, the respiratory gene was mentioned in 59.9% of emergency calls made the day before a cardiac arrest. Chest pain was only reported in 19.5% of these calls.
- Breathing difficulties should be considered as a potential warning sign of cardiac arrest
- In calls to emergency services, they are reported much more often than chest pain
Beware of difficulty breathing! It would be, according to a study presented at the 2021 congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), more often a harbinger of cardiac arrest than the often mentioned symptom of chest pain. A beginning of certainty in a field where science recognizes a part of ignorance: knowledge is in fact quite limited on the existence of warning signs of cardiac arrest, which often does not allow doctors to assess the risk and to prevent this very serious health accident.
An average age of 74 years
To reach this conclusion on the importance to attach to difficulty breathing, Danish researchers identified patients who suffered cardiac arrest outside the hospital between 2016 and 2018 and who had contacted the emergency services within 24 previous hours. They also noted the symptoms reported during these calls. As a result, out of more than 4,000 patients, 481 had contacted the emergency services the day before their cardiac arrest. Their average age was 74 years old and 59.9% of them were men.
Among the most frequently communicated symptoms during these emergency calls, 59.4% were difficulty breathing, 23% mental confusion, 20% loss of consciousness, 19.5% chest pain and 19.1% a pallor. And 81% of patients who reported respiratory discomfort when calling the emergency room died within 30 days of cardiac arrest compared to 47% of those who reported chest pain.
An underrated sign of cardiac arrest
“Difficulty breathing was the most common complaint and far more common than chest pain but compared to the latter, patients with respiratory problems were less likely to receive emergency medical help and more likely to die within 30 days following their cardiac arrest; these results indicate that breathing problems are an underestimated warning sign of cardiac arrest,” said Filip Gnesin, study author and researcher at North Zealand Hospital in Denmark. He believes the work will lead to further research “to help emergency dispatchers distinguish the warning symptoms of cardiac arrest.”
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