Key result
Subarachnoid hemorrhage can cause sudden cardiac arrest presenting with non-shockable rhythms and absent brainstem reflexes, mimicking primary cardiac etiologies.
Case Report (n=1)
Providers should consider subarachnoid hemorrhage as an etiology of cardiac arrest, particularly when presenting with a non-shockable rhythm and absent brain stem reflexes, despite ECG findings suggesting a cardiac cause.
May support considering subarachnoid hemorrhage in non-shockable arrest with absent reflexes; leaves open whether early neuroimaging alters outcomes.
Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may present with cardiac arrest (SAH-CA). We report a case of SAH-CA to assist providers in distinguishing SAH as an etiology of cardiac arrest despite electrocardiogram findings that may be suggestive of a cardiac etiology. SAH-CA is associated with high rates of return of spontaneous circulation, but overall poor outcome. An initially non-shockable cardiac rhythm and the absence of brain stem reflexes are important clues in indentifying SAH-CA.
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Zachariah et al. (2016) conducted a case report in Subarachnoid hemorrhage causing sudden cardiac arrest (n=1). Subarachnoid hemorrhage was evaluated. Subarachnoid hemorrhage can cause sudden cardiac arrest presenting with non-shockable rhythms and absent brainstem reflexes, mimicking primary cardiac etiologies.
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