What term describes death beginning at the heart?

The term that describes death beginning at the heart is syncope. Syncope refers to a temporary loss of consciousness and muscle strength commonly known as fainting, which can result from a lack of blood flow to the brain, often due to cardiovascular causes like a sudden drop in heart function or blood pressure. When the heart fails to pump effectively, it can initiate a cascade of physiological events leading to unconsciousness and, if not addressed, potentially result in clinical death.

While clinical death refers to the condition characterized by a cessation of cardiac activity and respiration after which resuscitation becomes less likely, it does not specifically describe the process starting at the heart. Asphyxia involves a lack of oxygen, often due to airway obstruction or suffocation, and cessation simply means the stopping of a function or process without specifying the initial cause. In this context, syncope is the term that most accurately encapsulates the idea of an immediate failure of heart function leading to loss of consciousness.