Death of Geneviève de Fontenay: is cardiac arrest common during sleep?

in collaboration with

Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)

She was famous for her hats, her outspokenness, and the fact that she only dressed in black and white. Geneviève de Fontenay, the former leader of the Miss France Committee, died at the age of 90.

Died of “cardiac arrest while sleeping”

It was her son who announced the sad news: Geneviève de Fontenay died last night, Tuesday August 1 at 11 p.m. Aged 90, therefore, the former patroness of the Misses was “very reduced for a while” And “spent his last hours with his brother and one of his granddaughters“according to Xavier de Fontenay at our colleagues TF1-LCI. The latter also clarified that she died in Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine) on Tuesday evening, from cardiac arrest in her sleep.

Asked about his death, Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo explains that we are making progress “cardiac arrest as the cause of death when it is more of a generic term. In reality, it is rather the consequence of another pathology, having caused this heart failure: a rhythm disorder, a myocardial infarction, a pulmonary embolism… Anyway, Geneviève de Fontenay was a elderly lady and she probably died a natural death, in her sleep”.

Cardiac arrest, when not occurring in sleep, is preceded by typical symptoms such as chest pain or brief chest pressure, which worsen with exertion and improve with rest.

Other, more atypical symptoms, such as nausea, fatigue or shortness of breath can also occur before cardiac arrest. In all cases, once the heart has stopped, cardiopulmonary resuscitation must be initiated urgently. Generally speaking, cardiac arrest, death usually occurs within 10-20 minutes if blood flow is not restored.

Tributes multiply

Since the announcement of her death, the reactions of personalities have multiplied towards Geneviève de Fontenay. Jean-Pierre Foucault, Sylvie Tellier, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, Stéphane Bern… All paid tribute to the woman and to the historical figure of the national beauty contest that is the Miss France competition.