Asystole (New Latin, from Greek privative a "not, without" + systolē "contraction" ) is the absence of ventricular contractions in the context of a lethal heart arrhythmia (in contrast to an induced asystole on a cooled patient on a heart-lung machine and general anesthesia during surgery necessitating stopping the heart). Asystole is the most serious form of cardiac arrest and is usually irreversible. Also referred to as cardiac flatline , asystole is the state of total cessation of electrical activity from the heart , which means no tissue contraction from the heart muscle and therefore no blood flow to the rest of the body.
26-573: (Redirected from Flat Line ) Flatline may mean: Flatline , an electrical time sequence measurement that shows no activity. Thus: In heart function, asystole In brain function, a flat electroencephalogram, where the brain shows no electrical activity ( brain death ) Music [ edit ] Flatline (album) , a 1997 album by MC Breed "Flatline" (B.o.B song) , 2016 "Flatline" (Mutya Keisha Siobhan song) , 2013, re-released in 2022 "Flatline" (Nelly Furtado song) , 2017 "Flatline",
52-423: A "shockable" rhythm. Even in those cases where an individual suffers a cardiac arrest with asystole and it is converted to a less severe shockable rhythm (ventricular fibrillation, or ventricular tachycardia), this does not necessarily improve the person's chances of survival to discharge from the hospital, though if the case was witnessed by a civilian, or better, a paramedic, who gave good CPR and cardiac drugs, this
78-438: A flat electroencephalogram , in which the brain shows no electrical activity ( brain death ). Both of these specific cases are involved in various definitions of death . A cardiac flatline is also called asystole . It can possibly be generated by malfunction of the electrocardiography device, but it is recommended to first rule out true asystole because of the emergence of such condition. Definition: A cardiac flatline
104-426: A flat line if the heart stops beating. Definition: A neurological flatline is referred to as brain death . It can be identified by using an EEG ( electroencephalogram ) test. Brain death is the loss of function of the brain, the cerebrum , that is responsible for thinking and the deep brain or the brain stem that is responsible for the breathing and reflexes such as pupillary light reflex (the constriction of
130-420: A return of heart activity but none regained consciousness. Neuro flatline or brain death happens after cardiac arrest or cardiac flatline. It can take 2 to 20 seconds after cardiac flatline for the brain to show no activity. The definition of death has changed over time, but the loss of cardiac and neurological function have been the main criteria for centuries. The concept of flatlining begins to take form with
156-661: A song by 5 Seconds Of Summer from 5SOS5 "Flatline", a song by Justin Bieber from Journals Other [ edit ] "Flatline" ( Doctor Who ) , 2014 TV episode Flatline, Tippmann company's Flatline Barrel System for paintball Flatlining, budget freeze Flatline (Transformers), a fictional character in the Transformers universe Flatline (drink), a shot made from sambuca , tequila and Tabasco sauce See also [ edit ] Flatliner (disambiguation) Flat (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
182-444: Is an important confounding factor to be considered in certain select cases. Out-of-hospital survival rates (even with emergency intervention) are less than 2 percent. Possible underlying causes, which may be treatable and reversible in certain cases, include the Hs and Ts . While the heart is asystolic, there is no blood flow to the brain unless CPR or internal cardiac massage (when
208-613: Is diagnosed if a person is experiencing all of the following three conditions: The electroencephalogram (EEG) records the brain's electrical activity and will show a flat line if the brain is dead. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 631 subjects' end of life was observed. Of the 631 subjects, 480 subjects were analyzed using a computer program that recorded each subject's vitals in order to monitor for return of pulse or heart activity after at least 1 minute of flatlining. The study found that 14% of subjects had
234-407: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Flatline A flatline is an electrical time sequence measurement that shows no activity and therefore, when represented, shows a flat line instead of a moving one. It almost always refers to either a flatlined electrocardiogram , where the heart shows no electrical activity ( asystole ), or to
260-424: Is inversely related to the length of time spent attempting resuscitation. Following a treatment intervention, the individuals who survive may still suffer long-term consequences of their cardiac flatline. An individual's cardiac flatline can progress to neurological flatline, which is also referred to as brain death. After an individual's heart stops beating, if providers are unable to successfully intervene within
286-414: Is no electrical activity in their heart which is evidenced by the flatline recorded by an ECG. The lack of electrical activity also means that the individual's heart will stop pumping. Following a cardiac flatline a fast intervention is a priority and can affect individual outcomes and recovery. Treatment for cardiac flatline or asystole can involve: Treatment decisions will depend on where an individual
SECTION 10
#1732944975260312-409: Is not producing a pulse, which can potentially be treated with defibrillation ) usually present with a very poor prognosis. Asystole is found initially in only about 28% of cardiac arrest cases in hospitalized patients, but only 15% of these survive, even with the benefit of an intensive care unit , with the rate being lower (6%) for those already prescribed drugs for high blood pressure . Asystole
338-642: Is referred to as asystole. It can be identified by using an ECG/EKG (electrocardiogram) test. Asystole occurs when the electrical and mechanical activities of the heart stop. Causes: ECG/EKG flatline or asystole occurs when the heart's electrical and mechanical activities stop. It also results from other causes such as hypoxia , acidosis , hypokalemia , hyperkalemia , hypovolemia , toxins, pulmonary thrombosis , and coronary thrombosis . Additional causes could also include tension pneumothorax and cardiac tamponade . These conditions should be treated immediately when identified. ECG flat line also occurs when
364-416: Is treated by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) combined with an intravenous vasopressor such as epinephrine (a.k.a. adrenaline). Sometimes an underlying reversible cause can be detected and treated (the so-called " Hs and Ts ", an example of which is hypokalaemia ). Several interventions previously recommended—such as defibrillation (known to be ineffective on asystole, but previously performed in case
390-407: Is when they go into asystole. When an individual goes into cardiac arrest providers will start CPR immediately and then try to determine whether the rhythm is shockable. While defibrillation is often portrayed as a common treatment option in popular media, since asystole is an unshockable rhythm defibrillation is not a recommended course of treatment. Successful resuscitation is generally unlikely and
416-421: The electrocardiographic (ECG/EKG) leads or recording electrodes are placed incorrectly. It can be caused by malfunction of the electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) machine. Diagnosis: ECG flatline or asystole is diagnosed when a person, who is in cardiac arrest (the heart stops beating), is experiencing the following conditions: The eclectrocardiogram (ECG) test records the heart's electrical activity and will show
442-504: The heart's electrical activity that can occur in certain less severe abnormal rhythms. Asystole is different from very fine occurrences of ventricular fibrillation , though both have a poor prognosis, and untreated fine VF will lead to asystole. Faulty wiring, disconnection of electrodes and leads, and power disruptions should be ruled out. Asystolic patients (as opposed to those with a "shockable rhythm" such as coarse or fine ventricular fibrillation, or unstable ventricular tachycardia that
468-640: The human brain has a specific pattern, called alpha oscillations, and went on to publish this in 1929. The presence of this technology along with resuscitation technology saw the use of the EEG to determine a time in which the person had reached total death. In 1959, this concept– brain death– was first coined as: "le coma dépassé by Mollaret and Goulon. They determined that a person reached this state when they were apneic, comatose, without brainstem reflexes, and showed no electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. When an individual experiences asystole or cardiac flatline, there
494-500: The invention of technologies for death determination. It began in 1837 when Professor Manni at the University of Rome offered a cash prize to the doctor who could offer a true test of death. The winner, Dr. Eugene Bouchut used new technology– the stethoscope– to determine death when heart sounds were absent for over two minutes. In 1883 he updated his criteria to require five minutes without heart sounds to qualify cardiac death. Then,
520-489: The pupil of the eye in response to light) and gag reflex or pharyngeal reflex (contraction of pharyngeal muscle). Causes: EEG flat line or brain death can result from a head injury that leads to brain damage and bleeding. Brain death also results from a lack of blood flow to the brain because the heart stops beating (cardiac arrest), which is when the ECG imaging shows a cardiac flat line (asystole). Diagnosis: Brain death
546-403: The rhythm was actually very fine ventricular fibrillation) and intravenous atropine —are no longer part of the routine protocols recommended by most major international bodies. 1 mg epinephrine by IV every 3–5 minutes is given for asystole. Survival rates in a cardiac arrest patient with asystole are much lower than a patient with a rhythm amenable to defibrillation; asystole is itself not
SECTION 20
#1732944975260572-430: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Flatline . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flatline_(disambiguation)&oldid=1231079335 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
598-460: The standard for viewing cardiac activity changed in 1887 when Augustus Waller recorded the first ECG from the human heart with a mercury capillary electrometer. This sparked research into modern ECG technology, which was developed from the mercury capillary electrometer by Willem Einthoven. In 1901 to 1905, Einthoven developed the string galvanometer , which could measure and record the heart's electrical activity. Electrodes were place on three points,
624-429: The window, the individual's brain cells will die from this lack of blood and oxygen and this damage is irreversible and permanent. The criteria to diagnose brain death has been outlined in the above sections of this article. While brain death cannot be treated, individuals and their families have several options available to them: Asystole Asystole should not be confused with very brief pauses below 3 seconds in
650-407: The “Einthoven leads”, the right and left arms and on the left foot same as today and provided precise recordings of the heart. This led to Einthoven's Nobel Prize in 1924. With the ECG, the characteristics of a dying heart were identified, creating the leading tool for diagnosing death– even to this day. However, in the mid 19th century with the invention of the defibrillator and cardioversion, it
676-425: Was realized that the flatline on the ECG did not always mean death. This instigated research into other ways to determine death, which eventually lead to the idea of brain death. In 1924, a German physiologist and psychiatrist Hans Berger recorded the first EEG on a human brain. The machine consisted of steel electrodes that get mounted on the scalp with an EEG cap to visualize and interpret signals. He noted that
#259740