Brief Answer:
I would explain as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

Regarding your concern, I would explain that if a cardiac arrest is successfully resuscitated, then what is crucial for a complete recovery depends on potential neurological implications.

Coming to this point, whether neurological status is compromised to some degree, it will depend on the time from cardiac arrest installation to the successful restoration of blood circulation.

If the patient is promptly assisted (time from emergency code to initiation of cardio-pulmonary assistance is minimal, only a few seconds) and cardiac arrest is reversed within a few seconds to few minutes, then chances that neurological function is not affected are maximal. This is best clinical scenario.

In such case the recovery from cardiac arrest is promptly achieved.

But, from the other hand if cardiac arrest is unwitnessed and initiation of specialized medical assistance is consequently delayed for more than 3 minutes, than there exists a great possibility that even after successful cardiac arrest management the patient remain in some transitory neurological deficits.

In such a period of some days to several weeks may be necessary to regain a completely normal neurological status.

Also, there exists a third possible scenario, where even if specialized medical assistance is properly installed (such as in hospital settings), the primary cardiac disease (which has brought to cardiac arrest) may be so severe that the cardiac arrest is difficult to be reversed, even after 20-30 minutes.

In such case, the prognosis of the patient is much worse and will depend not only by the prolonged duration of the cardiac arrest management attempt, but also by the primary cardiac disease (which may predispose to repeated acute heart failure and recurrent cardiac arrest).

I believe that your concrete clinical case is one of the three prescribed possible alternatives.

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

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