If it’s possible to restart a heart, why can’t they do it every single time?

Question

So if a heart stops you can massage, pump or shock it back to life, and surgeons even stop a heart on purpose before firing it back up, so why can’t they do that 100 percent of the time? What is it that makes a heart stop and never come back? If the brain is working then surely the heart should always come back?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Defibrillation will only shock 2 heart rhythms, Ventricular Tachycardia (V Tach), and Ventricular Fibrillation (V Fib). Any other rhythms have to be medically cardioverted using drugs and other interventions.