Coronary Angiography in Patients with and without STEMI Following Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Introduction: Little is known about discrepancies between patients who present with or without STEMI following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Material and Methods: All patients with OHCA who were admitted to our hospital between January 1st 2008 and December 31st 2013 were classified according to their initial laboratory and electrocardiographic findings into STEMI, NSTEMI or no ACS. Results: Overall, 147 patients [32 STEMI (21.8%), 28 NSTEMI (19.0%) and 87 no ACS (59.2%)] were included with a mean age of 63.7 ± 13.3 years; there were 84 men (57.1%) and 63 (42.9%) women. Of these, 63 patients (51.7%) received coronary angiography [29 STEMI (90.6%), 9 NSTEMI (32.1%) and 38 no ACS (43.7%)] showing a high prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) [28 STEMI (96.6%), 9 NSTEMI (100.0%) and 26 no ACS (68.4%)] requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in 52 cases [28 STEMI (96.6%), 8 NSTEMI (88.9%) and 16 no ACS (42.1%)]. Discussion: Coronary angiography immediately after hospital admission is feasible if all are prepared for potential further resuscitation efforts during cardiac catheterization. Primary focus on haemodynamic stabilisation may reduce the rates of coronary angiographies in patients following OHCA. Altogether, our data support the call for immediate coronary angiography in all patients following OHCA irrespective of their initial laboratory or electrocardiographic findings.