This chest tightness can change from day to day, and/or from moment to moment. All of the above combinations and variations are common. This type of chest tightness is commonly misconstrued as heart problems or the signs of a heart attack.
Cardiac arrest, also known as cardiopulmonary arrest or circulatory arrest, is a sudden stop in effective blood circulation due to the failure of the heart to contract effectively or at all. Medical personnel may refer to an unexpected cardiac arrest as a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
A heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked, and sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly. A heart attack is a circulation problem and sudden cardiac arrest is an electrical problem. A heart attack can cause a cardiac arrest. In cardiac arrest (also called sudden cardiac death or SCD), death results when the heart suddenly stops working properly. This is caused by abnormal, or irregular, heart rhythms (called arrhythmias).