Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death in Children

Course overview

Sudden cardiac death is typically defined as a sudden unexplained death from a cardiovascular event occurring within one hour of the onset of symptoms. The general causes of sudden cardiac death are dysrhythmic or nondysrhythmic (structural or functional and identified with echocardiography or at autopsy). Dysrhythmic events are most often caused by primary electrical disorders and inherited dysrhythmia syndromes, such as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW), long QT syndrome (LQTS) or Brugada syndrome (BrS). This module discusses the identifying characteristics of WPS, LQTS and BrS and the role these syndromes play in sudden cardiac death syndrome among children. The content in this course is applicable to nurses in acute care.