sudden cardiac death

noun

: death occurring within minutes or hours following onset of acute symptoms of cardiac arrest resulting especially from an arrhythmia

The defibrillator is intended for use in patients who are at high risk of sudden cardiac death due to ventricular tachyarrhythmia.

—Stuart L. Nightingale, The Journal of the American Medical Association

Noting that two drugs under evaluation increased patients' chances of sudden cardiac death, federal officials this week halted a major portion of a large, multicenter clinical trial designed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of drugs that suppress abnormal heart rhythms.

—Rick Weiss, Science News