Cardiac arrest as a result of ventricular tachycardia in a trauma patient.

Abstract

Cardiac arrest is classified based on whether it is treatable using defibrillation or not. It is classified as shockable rhythm (ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, or non-shockable (asystole and pulseless electrical activity). We present a case of a 72-year-old male Saudi patient not known to have any medical illness that was involved in a road traffic accident. He was brought in dead on arrival, and initially managed as a case of trauma, only to discover later that he had ventricular tachycardia just before the trauma. He was successfully resuscitated and discharged after 8 days.