I remember a
discussion long ago with Dr. Paul Harper about
whether strikes to the solar plexus could prove to be deadly.
Dr. Harper besides being a Dan student of mine, was also an accomplished surgeon. We often had talks about the medical implications about karate practices.
He also made it
clear that only an idiot would ever listen to me on medical matters, and I most
heartedly agree with that.
First looking on
Bing I find the following:
Only chest impacts occurring on a narrow band of the ECG during the upslope of the T wave (40 milliseconds (ms)
before the peak of the T wave to the instant of the actual peak) will cause the ventricular
fibrillation of commotio cordis, with an increased probability occurring when an
impact happens from 30 to 10 ms before the peak of the T wave.
Definition of Terms:
The T Wave
Both ventricles repolarise before the cycle
repeats itself and therefore a 3rd wave (t wave) is visible representing
ventricular repolarisation.
Image:
The T Wave
Commotio
cordis (Latin, "agitation or disruption of the
heart") is a rare lethal disruption of heart rhythm that occurs as a result of a blow to the
area directly over the heart (the precordial region) at a critical time during the cycle of a heartbeat.[1] This leads to disrupting normal heart electrical activity,
followed instantly by ventricular fibrillation, complete disorganization of the heart's
pumping function, and cardiac arrest. It is not caused by mechanical
damage to the heart muscle or surrounding organs and is not the result of heart
disease.
Its incidence in
the United States is fewer than 20 cases per year, often occurring in boys
participating in sports, most commonly in baseball when the hard ball strikes an unprotected chest.
Commotio cordis
occurs upon impact within a narrow window of about 40 milliseconds in the cardiac electrical cycle, explaining why it is so
rare.[1]
If cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR)
combined with use of an on-site automated
external defibrillator is employed urgently, within three minutes of the impact,
survival from commotio cordis can be as high as 58 percent.[2]
The point that
Dr. Harper was making while theoretically possible for a strike to cause the
heart to cease beating, funciolnally it was impossible to do so on
purpose. The chance any strike can land
on target in such a limited time as when the heart T-Wave reaches its peak in
impossible for anyone to deliver on purpose.
To do such with
intention is nothing short of serendipity.
No comments:
Post a Comment