MedPage TodayDamar Hamlin’s Cardiac Arrest: A Cardiologist’s Perspective

Commotio cordis — cardiac arrest after a blunt force trauma to the chest — is thought to occur because a hard object strikes the chest in a vulnerable moment in the cardiac cycle, setting off ventricular fibrillation. The rare condition has been described with a ball strike to the chest, but primarily in young men whose chests haven’t fully developed, making them more susceptible to the blunt force of a ball.