Commotio Cordis

Commotio cordis is caused by the blunt impact of a hard object directly over the heart occurring during a specific window of ventricular repolarization leading to immediate collapse, ventricular fibrillation, and cardiac arrest. This episode focuses on risk factors and management of this rare but catastrophic injury. PEMBlog @PEMTweets on Twitter My Mastodon account @bradsobo American Heart Association CPR and AED Training References Link MS. Commotio cordis: ventricular fibrillation triggered by chest impact-induced abnormalities in repolarization. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2012 Apr;5(2):425-32. doi: 10.1161/CIRCEP.111.962712. PMID: 22511659. Madias C, Maron BJ, Weinstock J, et al. Commotio cordis–sudden cardiac death with chest wall impact. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2007; 18:115. Maron BJ, Gohman TE, Kyle SB, et al. Clinical profile and spectrum of commotio cordis. JAMA 2002; 287:1142. Maron BJ, Estes NA 3rd. Commotio cordis. N Engl J Med 2010; 362:917.