The important difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack

In July 2023, rising US basketball star Bronny James collapsed on the court during practice and was sent to hospital. The 18-year-old athlete, son of famous LA Lakers’ veteran LeBron James, had experienced a cardiac arrest.

Many media outlets incorrectly referred to the event as a “heart attack” or used the terms interchangeably.

A cardiac arrest and a heart attack are distinct yet overlapping concepts associated with the heart.

With some background in how the heart works, we can see how they differ and how they’re related.

Understanding the heart

The heart is a muscle that contracts to work as a pump. When it contracts it pushes blood – containing oxygen and nutrients – to all the tissues of our body.

For the heart muscle to work effectively as a pump, it needs to be fed its own blood supply, delivered by the coronary arteries. If these arteries are blocked, the heart muscle doesn’t get the blood it needs.

This can cause the heart muscle to become injured or die, and results in the heart not pumping properly.

Heart attack or cardiac arrest

Simply put, a heart attack, technically known as a myocardial infarction, describes injury to, or death of, the heart muscle.

A cardiac arrest, sometimes called a sudden cardiac arrest, is when the heart stops beating, or put another way, stops working as...

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