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British woman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest

bbc.com

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Re: British woman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest

#11

Post by mkesper »

Tepix wrote: post #8

So, I still don't know if you are irreversibly dead if your brain stops all activity. I.e. is the state of your brain preserved just by the connections of the neurons? Or is the "RAM" also critical?

When your brain doesn't get oxygen it will die. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_hypoxia

Re: British woman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest

#12

Post by sillysaurusx »

Jare wrote: post #7
stuartbman wrote: post #4

ECMO is an amazing technology that's often used in futile situations. I don't know who the ideal candidate is for it, but a young, fit, hypothermic cardiac arrest victim is pretty high up on the list

I don't know about ideal, but it saved my 6 day old son so yeah, "amazing" is totally warranted. Years later I sometimes take a look at some of the pictures we took (cameras would be forbidden in ICU soon after) and stare in awe.

That's incredible! Are the pictures online anywhere?

Re: British woman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest

#13

Post by ad404b8a372f2b9 »

Tepix wrote: post #8

So, I still don't know if you are irreversibly dead if your brain stops all activity. I.e. is the state of your brain preserved just by the connections of the neurons? Or is the "RAM" also critical?

What leads to brain damage, as I understand it, is lack of oxygen like all other organs and hypothermia reduces your brain activity and its consumption of oxygen but I always interpreted brain activity as an indicator of oxygen consumption and not as something that'd have a cause-effect relationship with brain damage.

Re: British woman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest

#15

Post by unnouinceput »

mkesper wrote: post #11
Tepix wrote: post #8

So, I still don't know if you are irreversibly dead if your brain stops all activity. I.e. is the state of your brain preserved just by the connections of the neurons? Or is the "RAM" also critical?

When your brain doesn't get oxygen it will die. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_hypoxia

It's more then that in this case. She had not vital signs at all, heart not beating and providing oxygen included.

Re: British woman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest

#16

Post by vo2maxer »

Tepix wrote: post #8

So, I still don't know if you are irreversibly dead if your brain stops all activity. I.e. is the state of your brain preserved just by the connections of the neurons? Or is the "RAM" also critical?

Here is an interesting review of the definitions of death: https://academic.oup.com/jlb/article/3/3/743/2327864

Re: British woman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest

#18

Post by me_me_me »

BigChiefSmokem wrote: post #17

How did her brain survive with seemingly no oxygen being replenished thru circulation?

>Audrey Schoeman developed severe hypothermia when she was caught in a snowstorm while hiking in the Spanish Pyrenees with her husband in November.
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