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. 2013 Nov;9(4):316–324. doi: 10.2174/1573403X10666140214121152

Table 1.

Causes of OHCA [5-7]

Cardiac causes Non-cardiac causes (≈5-12%)
 Ischemia (≈70%)

  •  coronary artery disease (CAD)

  •  heart failure

  •  not related to CAD:

  • coronary emboli

  • inflammatory disease

  • vasospasm

Electrolyte disorders

  • Hypo-/hyperkalemia

  • acidosis

  • kidney disease, dialysis

 Structural heart disease

  • hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

  • dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure

  • arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia

  • Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

  • myocarditis

  • aortic dissection

  • congenital heart disease

Neurological illnesses

  • stroke

  • subarachnoid hemorrhage

Hypoxia Trauma (commotio cordis) Massive pulmonary embolism
 Electric disorders

  • Long-/short QT syndrome

  • Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW)

  • Brugada syndrome

  • idiopathic

Drugs and drug interactions

  • Digoxin

  • antiarrhythmic drugs

  • Several antidepressant drugs

Infectious diseases and sepsis