Ventricular Fibrillation Causes & Risks

Causes

Causes of ventricular fibrillation include:

• Inadequate blood flow to the heart due to coronary artery disease (CAD)
• Scar tissue within the heart due to previous injury to heart, such as a heart attack (myocardial infarction)
• Congestive heart failure (CHF)
• Infection of the heart muscle ( myocarditis )
• Shock
• Electrical shock
• Drowning
• Dangerously low body temperature ( hypothermia )
• Electrolyte imbalance (eg, very low levels of potassium or magnesium in the blood)
• Drugs that affect the electrical currents of the heart (eg, sodium or potassium channel blockers)
• Low atmospheric oxygen

Risk Factors

Ventricular fibrillation is most commonly associated with CAD. Factors that can increase risk of CAD will also increase the risk of ventricular fibrillation.

The following factors increase your chance of developing ventricular fibrillation. If you have any of these risk factors, tell your doctor:

• CAD
• CHF
• Heart rhythm disorder (ie, arrhythmia ), especially multiple premature ventricular beats
• Previous heart attack
• Previous ventricular fibrillation
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Excessive use of alcohol
• Drug abuse
• Stress
• High cholesterol (dyslipidemia)
• Obesity
• A high-fat diet
• A family history of cardiovascular disease
• Advancing age