THE LAZARUS PHENOMENON
Her heart had stopped beating and she was no longer breathing. Janina Kolkiewicz was declared dead. At 91 years old, she had lived a long life. But she was not about to stop living it. Eleven hours later, she awoke in the hospital mortuary with a craving for tea and pancakes. As inconceivable as it sounds, Kolkiewicz is just one of many people said to have “risen from the dead.” In 2001, a 66-year-old man experienced cardiac arrest while undergoing surgery for an abdominal aneurysm. After 17 minutes of resuscitation efforts – incorporating CPR, defibrillation, and medication – the man’s vital signs failed to return, and he was pronounced dead. Ten minutes later, his surgeon felt a pulse. He was alive. The man’s operation continued, with a successful outcome. In 2014, a 78-year-old man from Mississippi was declared dead after a hospice nurse found him with no pulse. The next day, he woke up in a body bag at the morgue. These are undoubtedly extraordinary stories that sound more suited to a horror movie, but there is a real-world name for such cases: Lazarus syndrome. What is Lazarus syndrome? The Lazarus phenomenon, or Lazarus syndrome, is definedTrusted Source as a delayed return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after CPR has ceased. In other words, patients who are pronounced dead after cardiac arrest experience an impromptu return of cardiac activity. What might cause Lazarus syndrome? Some researchers suggest that the Lazarus phenomenon may be down to a pressure buildup in the chest caused by CPR. Once CPR is ceased, this pressure may gradually release and kick-start the heart back into action. Another theory is the delayed action of medication used as a part of resuscitation efforts, such as adrenaline.
Medical Life