• (heart arrest) Cessation of heart beat or MYOCARDIAL CONTRACTION. If it is treated within a few minutes, heart arrest can be reversed in most cases to normal cardiac rhythm and effective circulation.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• An abrupt loss of heart function.
  Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO)
  The Human Phenotype Ontology Project, 2025
• Cessation of cardiac function.
  NICHD Pediatric Terminology
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• (sudden cardiac arrest) Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a condition in which the heart suddenly stops beating. When that happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. If it is not treated, SCA usually causes death within minutes. But quick treatment with a defibrillator may be lifesaving.
  MedlinePlus
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• The sudden cessation of cardiac activity in an individual who becomes unresponsive, without normal breathing and no signs of circulation. Cardiac arrest may be reversed by CPR, and/or defibrillation, cardioversion or cardiac pacing.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• The sudden cessation of contractions capable of circulating blood to the body and brain. Also called sudden cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest usually occurs as a result of a rapid ventricular rhythm (ventricular tachycardia) or a chaotic one (ventricular fibrillation). Death occurs within minutes unless cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation are available.
  Harvard Dictionary of Health Terms
  Harvard Medical Publishing, 2011
• The sudden cessation of productive cardiac activity in an individual who becomes unresponsive, without normal breathing and no signs of circulation.
  U.S. FDA Glossary
  U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 2021
• A disorder characterized by cessation of the pumping function of the heart.
  Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events
  U.S. National Institutes of Health, 2021
• Cardiac arrest is the cessation of cardiac mechanical activity resulting in the absence of circulating blood flow. Cardiac arrest stops blood from flowing to vital organs, depriving them of oxygen, and, if left untreated, results in death. Sudden cardiac arrest is the unexpected cessation of circulation within a short period of symptom...
  Merck Manuals
  Merck & Co., Inc., 2025
• Asystole is cardiac standstill with no cardiac output and no ventricular depolarization, as shown in the image below; it eventually occurs in all dying patients.Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) is the term applied to a heterogeneous group of dysrhythmias unaccompanied by a detectable pulse.
  Medscape
  WebMD, 2025
• This monograph covers cardiac arrest in adults. Sudden cardiac arrest is a sudden state of circulatory failure due to a loss of cardiac systolic function. It is the result of 4 specific cardiac rhythm disturbances: ventricular fibrillation (VF), pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT), pulseless electrical activity, and asystole. Torsades...
  Epocrates
  Athenahealth, Inc., 2019