Clinical death occurs when a patient's heartbeat and breathing have stopped. Since breathing rarely continues when the heart is stopped, clinical death is synonymous with cardiac arrest or cardiac death. The reversal of clinical death is sometimes possible through CPR, defibrillation, epinephrine injection, and other treatments. Resuscitation after more than 4 to 6 minutes of clinical death at normal body temperature is difficult, and can result in brain damage or later brain death even if cardiac resuscitation is successful. Longer intervals of clinical death can be survived under conditions of hypothermia. Hypothermia also improves outcomes after resuscitation from clinical death even if body temperature is not lowered until after resuscitation.

See also

• Death
• Brain death
• Cardiac arrest
• Near-death experience

Death | Intensive care medicine | Medical ethics

Tod (Medizin) | Klinika morto | מוות קליני | Klinische dood | Śmierć kliniczna | Клиническая смерть | קלינישער טויט