Lazarus syndrome - wikipedia Lazarus syndrome This article is about the medical phenomenon. For the TV movie, see The Lazarus Syndrome. Not to be confused with Lazarus sign. Lazarus syndrome Synonym Lazarus phenomenon Classification and external resources ICD - 10 Xxx. x ICD - 9 - CM xxx ( edit on Wikidata ) Lazarus syndrome, ( the Lazarus heart ) also known as autoresuscitation after failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is the spontaneous return of circulation after failed attempts at resuscitation. Its occurrence has been noted in medical literature at least 38 times since 1982. It takes its name from Lazarus who, as described in the New Testament of The Bible, was raised from the dead by Jesus. 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. Other possible factors are hyperkalemia or high doses of epinephrine. Contents 1 Cases 2 Implications 3 In Popular Culture 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Cases A 27 - year - old man in the UK collapsed after overdosing on heroin and cocaine. Paramedics gave him an 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. A 66 - year - old man suffering from a suspected abdominal aneurysm who, during treatment for this condition, suffered cardiac arrest and received chest compressions and defibrillation shocks for 17 minutes. 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. According to a 2002 article in the journal Forensic Science International, a 65 - year - old prelingually deaf Japanese male was found unconscious in the foster home he lived in. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation 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 the person moving in the mortuary after 20 minutes. The patient survived for 4 more days. 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 discovered in the morgue 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. 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. A 65 - year - old man in Malaysia came back to life two - and - a-half hours after doctors at Seberang Jaya Hospital, Penang, pronounced him dead. He died three weeks later. Anthony Yahle, 37, in Bellbrook, Ohio, USA, was breathing abnormally at 4 a.m. on 5 August 2013, and could not be woken. He was given CPR, and first responders shocked him several times and found a heartbeat. That afternoon, he coded for 45 minutes at Kettering Medical Center and was pronounced dead. When his son arrived at the hospital, he noticed a heartbeat on the monitor that was still attached. Resuscitation efforts resumed, and the patient was revived. 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 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. The next day he was well enough to be talking with family, but died fifteen days later. 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. Medical literature has recommended observation of a patient 's vital signs for five to ten minutes after cessation of resuscitation before certifying death. In popular culture In the TV show Grey 's Anatomy, a patient had a heart attack and after 42 minutes of resuscitation efforts they declared her dead. And 20 minutes after death has been declared, the patient vital signs returned and regained consciousness. See also Lazarus sign Lazarus taxon Near - death experience Premature burial Suspended animation The Lazarus Heart References Jump up ^ Hornby K, Hornby L, Shemie SD ( May 2010 ). `` A systematic review of autoresuscitation after cardiac arrest ''. Crit. Care Med. 38 ( 5 ) : 1246 -- 53. doi : 10.1097 / CCM. 0b013e3181d8caaa. PMID 20228683. ^ Jump up to : Ben - David M.D., Bruce ; et al. ( 2001 ). `` Survival After Failed Intraoperative Resuscitation : A Case of `` Lazarus Syndrome '' ``. Anesthesia & Analgesia. 92 ( 3 ) : 690 -- 692. doi : 10.1213 / 00000539 - 200103000 - 00027. PMID 11226103. Retrieved 2014 - 07 - 28. Jump up ^ Adhiyaman, Vedamurthy ; Adhiyaman, Sonja ; Sundaram, Radha. `` The Lazarus phenomenon ''. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 100 ( 12 ) : 552 -- 7. doi : 10.1258 / jrsm. 100.12. 552. PMC 2121643. PMID 18065707. ^ Jump up to : `` Woman Declared Dead, Still Breathing in Morgue ''. Fox News. 2008 - 10 - 07. Retrieved 2014 - 07 - 28. ^ Jump up to : 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. PMC 1725503. PMID 11310473. Retrieved 2014 - 07 - 28. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ `` Embalmer finds ' dead ' woman really alive ''. Bogota : NBC News. 2010 - 02 - 17. Retrieved 2014 - 07 - 28. Jump up ^ Salazar, Hernando. `` ¿ Colombiana experimentó Síndrome de Lázaro ? ''. BBC Online ( in Spanish ). Retrieved 26 December 2010. Jump up ^ Vinesh, Derrick ( 26 April 2011 ). `` Resurrection man dies ''. The Star Online. Retrieved 2014 - 07 - 28. Jump up ^ Lupkin, Sydney ( 22 August 2013 ). `` Ohio Man Declared Dead Comes Back to Life ''. Retrieved 4 January 2014. Jump up ^ McLaughlin, Eliott ( 28 February 2014 ). `` Dead Mississippi man begins breathing in embalming room, coroner says ''. CNN. Retrieved 28 February 2014. Jump up ^ Ford, Dana ( 13 March 2014 ). `` Mississippi man who awoke in body bag dies two weeks later ''. CNN. Retrieved 13 March 2014. External links The Lazarus Phenomenon Documentary Death Outline 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 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 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 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 squad Death threat Death trajectory Dignified death Extinction Fan death Festival of the Dead Fascination with death Homicide Information - theoretic death Last rites Martyr Megadeath Museum of Death Necronym Necrophilia Necrophobia The Order of the Good Death Predation Sacrifice human animal Spiritual death Suicide Assisted suicide Thanatosensitivity Undead Voodoo death Portal WikiProject Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lazarus_syndrome&oldid=813721837 '' Categories : Syndromes Emergency medicine Medical aspects of death Cardiopulmonary resuscitation Hidden categories : CS1 Spanish - language sources ( es ) Infobox medical condition Use dmy dates from April 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español فارسی Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Português Suomi ไทย Türkçe 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 4 December 2017, at 22 : 16. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what is it called when you die and come back
Answer: Lazarus syndrome