Lazarus syndrome

Short description: Medical phenomenon

This page is about the medical phenomenon. For the TV movie, see The Lazarus Syndrome.

Not to be confused with Lazarus sign.

This article needs more medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. Please review the contents of the article and add the appropriate references if you can. Unsourced or poorly sourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Lazarus syndrome" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2019)

|
|

Lazarus Syndrome

Other names| Lazarus phenomenon, Lazarus heart, autoresuscitation after failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Specialty| Cardiology

Lazarus syndrome (the Lazarus heart), also known as autoresuscitation after failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation,[1] is the spontaneous return of a normal cardiac rhythm after failed attempts at resuscitation. It is also used to refer to the spontaneous return of cardiac activity after the patient has been pronounced dead.[2] The phenomenon was first described in medical journals in 1982, and has been noted at least 38 times since then.[3][4] It was named the "Lazarus Phenomenon" by Jack G. Bray in 1993,[5][6] referring to Lazarus of Bethany who, according to the New Testament, was raised from the dead by Jesus.[7]

Occurrences of the syndrome are extremely rare, and the causes are not well understood. One hypothesis for the phenomenon is that a chief factor (though not the only one) is the buildup of pressure in the chest as a result of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The relaxation of pressure after resuscitation efforts have ended is thought to allow the heart to expand, triggering the heart's electrical impulses and restarting the heartbeat.[2] Other possible factors are hyperkalemia or high doses of adrenaline.[7]

## Contents

* 1 Notable cases
* 1.1 Record
* 2 Implications
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Notable cases

* A 27-year-old man in the UK collapsed after overdosing on heroin and cocaine. Paramedics gave him a naloxone injection, and he recovered enough to walk to the ambulance. He went into cardiac arrest in transit. After 25 minutes of resuscitation efforts, the patient was verbally declared dead. About a minute after resuscitation ended, a nurse noticed a rhythm on the heart monitor and resuscitation was resumed. The patient recovered fully.[7]
* A 66-year-old man suffering from a suspected abdominal aneurysm suffered cardiac arrest and received chest compressions and defibrillation shocks for 17 minutes during treatment for his condition. Vital signs did not return; the patient was declared dead and resuscitation efforts ended. Ten minutes later, the surgeon felt a pulse. The aneurysm was successfully treated, and the patient fully recovered with no lasting physical or neurological problems.[2]
* According to a 2002 article in the journal Forensic Science International, a 65-year-old prelingually deaf Japanese man was found unconscious in the foster home he lived in. CPR was attempted on the scene by home staff, emergency medical personnel and also in the emergency department of the hospital and included appropriate medications and defibrillation. He was declared dead after attempted resuscitation. However, a policeman found him moving in the mortuary after 20 minutes. The patient survived for 4 more days.[8]
* Judith Johnson, 61, went into cardiac arrest at Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, Delaware, United States, in May 2007. She was given "multiple medicines and synchronized shocks", but never regained a pulse. She was declared dead at 8:34 p.m. but was later discovered to be alive and breathing. She sued the medical center where it happened for damages due to physical and neurological problems stemming from the event.[4]
* A 45-year-old woman in Colombia was pronounced dead, as there were no vital signs showing she was alive. Later, a funeral worker noticed the woman moving and alerted his co-worker that the woman should go back to the hospital.[9][10]
* A 65-year-old man in Malaysia regained vital signs two-and-a-half hours after doctors at Seberang Jaya Hospital, Penang, pronounced him dead. He died three weeks later.[11]
* Anthony Yahle, 37, in Bellbrook, Ohio, United States, was breathing abnormally at 4:00 a.m. on 5 August 2013, and could not be woken. After finding that Yahle had no pulse, first responders administered CPR and were able to retrieve a stable-enough heartbeat to transport him to the emergency room. Later that afternoon, he again suffered cardiac arrest for 45 minutes at Kettering Medical Center and was pronounced dead after all efforts to resuscitate him failed. When his son arrived at the hospital to visit his supposed-to-be deceased father, he noticed a heartbeat on the monitor that was still attached to his father. Resuscitation efforts were resumed, and Yahle was successfully revived.[12]
* Walter Williams, 78, from Lexington, Mississippi, United States, was at home when his hospice nurse called a coroner who arrived and declared him dead at 9:00 p.m. on 26 February 2014. Once at a funeral home, he was found to be moving, possibly resuscitated by a defibrillator implanted in his chest.[13] The next day he was well enough to be talking with family, but died fifteen days later.[14]
* Siti Masfufah Wardah, 12, from Probolinggo, Indonesia, was declared dead from chronic diabetes with organ complications. After being taken to her home, she was found with her eyes open by her parents who immediately called a medical professional. After her initial recovery she died one hour later.[15]
* Timesha Beauchamp, 20, from Southfield, Michigan, United States, was declared dead by a doctor on August 23, 2020[16] after 30 minutes of resuscitation efforts by rescue professionals failed, and the doctor was informed via telephone. Beauchamp was not examined by the physician at the time, and did not have to be according to best practices. Hours later, after her body arrived at a Detroit funeral home, morticians realized Beauchamp was still alive. After it was announced that Beauchamp was alive, Southfield Fire Chief Johnny Menifee suggested in a news conference that Beauchamp's revival may be a case of Lazarus syndrome.[17] She later died on October 18, 2020.
* Camila Roxana Martinez Mendoza, 3, of Villa de Ramos, Mexico, was declared dead by doctors on August 17, 2022, due to complications from a stomach infection but at her funeral, family members noticed she was breathing and had a pulse.[18] She was taken back to the same hospital that initially treated her for the infection and declared her dead, but she could not be saved.

### Record

Velma Thomas, 59, of Nitro, West Virginia, United States holds the record time for recovering from clinical death. In May 2008, Thomas went into cardiac arrest at her home. Medics were able to establish a faint pulse after eight minutes of CPR. Her heart stopped twice after arriving at the hospital and she was placed on life support. Doctors attempted to lower her body temperature to prevent additional brain injury. She was declared clinically dead for 17 hours after doctors failed to detect brain activity. Her son, Tim Thomas, stated that "her skin had already started hardening, her hands and toes were curling up, they were already drawn". She was taken off life support and funeral arrangements were in progress. However, ten minutes after being taken off life support, she revived and recovered.[19][20]

## Implications

The Lazarus phenomenon raises ethical issues for physicians, who must determine when medical death has occurred, resuscitation efforts should end, and postmortem procedures such as autopsies and organ harvesting may take place.[2]

Medical literature has recommended observation of a patient's vital signs for five to ten minutes after cessation of resuscitation before certifying death.[7]

## See also

* Lazarus sign
* Lazarus taxon
* Near-death experience
* Premature burial
* Suspended animation
* Terminal lucidity

## References

1. ↑ "A systematic review of autoresuscitation after cardiac arrest". Crit. Care Med. 39 (5): 1246–53. May 2010. doi:10.1097/CCM.0b013e3181d8caaa. PMID 20228683.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ben-David M.D., Bruce (2001). "Survival After Failed Intraoperative Resuscitation: A Case of "Lazarus Syndrome"". Anesthesia & Analgesia 92 (3): 690–92. doi:10.1213/00000539-200103000-00027. PMID 11226103.
3. ↑ Adhiyaman, Vedamurthy; Adhiyaman, Sonja; Sundaram, Radha (2007). "The Lazarus phenomenon". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 100 (12): 552–57. doi:10.1177/0141076807100012013. PMID 18065707.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Woman Declared Dead, Still Breathing in Morgue". Fox News. 2008-10-07. https://www.foxnews.com/story/woman-declared-dead-still-breathing-in-morgue/.
5. ↑ Bray, Jack G. M.D.. The Lazarus Phenomenon Revisited. The Journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists 78(5):p 991, May 1, 1993. | DOI: 10.1097/00000542-199305000-00030
6. ↑ Rzeźniczek, Piotr; Gaczkowska, Agnieszka Danuta; Kluzik, Anna; Cybulski, Marcin; Bartkowska-Śniatkowska, Alicja; Grześkowiak, Małgorzata (2023-07-15). "Lazarus Phenomenon or the Return from the Afterlife—What We Know about Auto Resuscitation" (in en). Journal of Clinical Medicine 12 (14): 4704. doi:10.3390/jcm12144704. ISSN 2077-0383. PMID 37510819.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Walker, A.; H. McClelland; J. Brenchley (2001). "The Lazarus Documentary following recreational drug use". Emerg Med J 18 (1): 74–75. doi:10.1136/emj.18.1.74. PMID 11310473.
8. ↑ Maeda, H; Fujita, M. Q.; Zhu, B. L.; Yukioka, H; Shindo, M; Quan, L; Ishida, K (2002). "Death following spontaneous recovery from cardiopulmonary arrest in a hospital mortuary: 'Lazarus phenomenon' in a case of alleged medical negligence". Forensic Science International 127 (1–2): 82–7. doi:10.1016/s0379-0738(02)00107-x. PMID 12098530.
9. ↑ "Embalmer finds 'dead' woman really alive". Bogota: NBC News. 2010-02-17. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna35442991.
10. ↑ Salazar, Hernando. "¿Colombiana experimentó Síndrome de Lázaro?" (in es). BBC Online. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/america_latina/2010/02/100218_2118_colombia_resurrecion_gz.
11. ↑ Vinesh, Derrick (26 April 2011). "Resurrection man dies". http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/26/nation/20110426135726&sec=nation.
12. ↑ Lupkin, Sydney (22 August 2013). "Ohio Man Declared Dead Comes Back to Life". https://abcnews.go.com/Health/ohio-man-declared-dead-back-life/story?id=20027401.
13. ↑ McLaughlin, Eliott (28 February 2014). "Dead Mississippi man begins breathing in embalming room, coroner says". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/us/dead-man-comes-back-life/?hpt=zite_zite2_featured.
14. ↑ Ford, Dana (13 March 2014). "Mississippi man who awoke in body bag dies two weeks later". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/13/us/mississippi-walter-williams-dead/?hpt=zite_zite3_featured.
15. ↑ Ahdira, Alza (21 August 2020). "Satu Jam Setelah Dinyatakan Wafat, Gadis di Jawa Timur ini Kembali Hidup - Pikiran-Rakyat.com" (in id). www.pikiran-rakyat.com (Pikiran Rakyat). https://www.pikiran-rakyat.com/nasional/pr-01680162/satu-jam-setelah-dinyatakan-wafat-gadis-di-jawa-timur-ini-kembali-hidup.
16. ↑ "Family of woman who died weeks after she was found alive at a funeral home sues paramedics for $50 million". 20 October 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/20/us/timesha-beauchamp-dies-lawsuit-trnd/index.html.
17. ↑ Witsil, Frank. "Rare phenomenon could explain why Timesha Beauchamp was mistakenly believed to be dead" (in en-US). https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/08/26/timesha-beauchamp-alive-detroit-funeral-home-lazarus-syndrome/3441918001/.
18. ↑ Rodriguez, Josef (2022-08-25). "After 'Dying' From a Stomach Bug, a 3-Year-Old Girl Woke Up At Her Own Funeral". https://wearemitu.com/wearemitu/things-that-matter/camila-martinez-alive-funeral-coffin/.
19. ↑ Elsworth, Catherine (26 May 2008). "Woman comes back to life after being dead for 17 hours". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2032591/Woman-comes-back-to-life-after-being-dead-for-17-hours.html.
20. ↑ "Woman Came Back From the Dead After 17 Hours with No Measurable Brain Waves". Neatorama. 2008-05-27. https://www.neatorama.com/2008/05/27/woman-came-back-from-the-dead-after-17-hours-with-no-measurable-brain-waves/.

## External links

The Lazarus Phenomenon

Classification|

* ICD-10: Xxx.x
* ICD-9-CM: xxx

|

* v
* t
* e

Death

In medicine|

Cell death
Necrosis

Avascular necrosis
Coagulative necrosis
Liquefactive necrosis
Gangrenous necrosis
Caseous necrosis
Fat necrosis
Fibrinoid necrosis
Temporal lobe necrosis
Programmed cell death

AICD
Anoikis
Apoptosis
Autophagy
Intrinsic apoptosis
Necroptosis
Paraptosis
Parthanatos
Phenoptosis
Pseudoapoptosis
Pyroptosis
Autolysis
Autoschizis
Eschar
Immunogenic cell death
Ischemic cell death
Pyknosis
Karyorrhexis
Karyolysis
Mitotic catastrophe
Suicide gene

* Abortion
* Accidental death
* Autopsy
* Brain death
* Brainstem death
* Clinical death
* DOA
* Death by natural causes
* Death rattle
* Dysthanasia
* End-of-life care
* Euthanasia
* Lazarus sign
* Lazarus syndrome
* Medical definition of death
* Organ donation
* Terminal illness
* Unnatural death

Lists|

* Causes of death by rate
* Expressions related to death
* Natural disasters
* People by cause of death
* Premature obituaries
* Preventable causes of death
* Notable deaths by year
* Unusual deaths
* TV actors who died during production

Mortality|

* Birthday effect
* Child mortality
* Gompertz–Makeham law of mortality
* Holiday effect
* Immortality
* Biological
* Digital
* Infant mortality
* Karōshi
* Maternal death
* Maternal mortality in fiction
* Memento mori
* Micromort
* Mortality displacement
* Mortality rate
* RAMR
* Mortality salience
* Perinatal mortality

After death|

| Body|

Stages
Pallor mortis
Algor mortis
Rigor mortis
Livor mortis
Putrefaction
Decomposition
Skeletonization
Fossilization

Preservation
Cryopreservation

Cryonics
Neuropreservation
Embalming
Maceration
Mummification
Plastination
Prosection
Taxidermy

Disposal
Burial

Bed burial
Burial at sea
Chariot burial
Jar burial
Natural burial
Premature burial
Secondary burial
Ship burial
Sky burial
Space burial
Cannibalism
Cremation
Dismemberment
Excarnation
Promession
Resomation

Beating heart cadaver
Body donation
Cadaveric spasm
Coffin birth
Death erection
Dissection
Gibbeting
Postmortem caloricity
Post-mortem interval

|

Other aspects|

Afterlife
Cemetery
Consciousness
Customs
Death mask
Eternal oblivion
Examination
Funeral
Grief
Intermediate state
Internet
Mourning
Obituary
Resurrection
Taboo on the dead
Vigil

Paranormal|

* Ghosts
* Near-death experience
* Near-death studies
* Necromancy
* Out-of-body experience
* Reincarnation research
* Séance

Legal|

* Abortion law
* Administration
* Capital punishment
* Cause of death
* Civil death
* Coroner
* Death-qualified jury
* Death certificate
* Declared death in absentia
* Death row
* Dying declaration
* Faked death
* Inquest
* Legal death
* Murder
* Necropolitics
* Prohibition of death
* Right to die
* Suspicious death
* Trust law
* Will

Fields|

* Forensic pathology
* Funeral director
* Mortuary science
* Necrobiology
* Post-mortem chemistry
* Post-mortem photography
* Taphonomy
* Biostratinomy
* Thanatology

Other|

* Apparent death
* Dark tourism
* Darwin Awards
* Dead pool
* Death and culture
* Death anniversary
* Death anxiety
* Death deity
* Personification of death
* Dying-and-rising god
* Psychopomp
* Death camp
* Death drive
* Death education
* Death from laughter
* Death hoax
* Death knell
* Death march
* Death messenger
* Death notification
* Death panel
* Death poem
* Death pose
* Death-positive movement
* Death squad
* Death threat
* Death trajectory
* Dignified death
* Extinction
* Fan death
* Festival of the Dead
* Fascination with death
* Hierarchy of death
* Homicide
* Last rites
* Martyr
* Megadeath
* Museum of Death
* Necronym
* Necrophilia
* Necrophobia
* The Order of the Good Death
* Predation
* Sacrifice
* human
* animal
* Social death
* Spiritual death
* Suicide
* Assisted suicide
* Thanatosensitivity
* Undead
* Voodoo death

* Category
* Outline

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus syndrome. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Medicine:Lazarus_syndrome&oldid=4014120"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template