There is evidence suggesting that the ability to achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) with mechanical chest compression devices (mCCD) is significantly improved when compared with manual chest compressions [1]. Another important advantage of mCCD is uninterrupted chest compressions during coronary intervention in catheterization laboratory. However, the benefit of mCCD has not been ...

Introduction Induction of moderate hypothermia (28°C to 32°C) before cardiac arrest has been used successfully since the 1950s to protect the brain against the global ischemia that occurs during some open-heart surgeries. Successful use of therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest in humans was also described in the late 1950s1–3 but was subsequently abandoned because of uncertain benefit an...

Introduction Induction of moderate hypothermia (28°C to 32°C) before cardiac arrest has been used successfully since the 1950s to protect the brain against the global ischemia that occurs during some open-heart surgeries. Successful use of therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest in humans was also described in the late 1950s1–3 but was subsequently abandoned because of uncertain benefit an...

BACKGROUND One of the factors that limits survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is the interruption of chest compressions. During ventricular fibrillation and tachycardia the electrocardiogram reflects the probability of return of spontaneous circulation associated with defibrillation. We have used this in the current study to quantify in detail the effects of interrupting chest compress...

Results We identified 246 cardiac arrests; 154 out-of-hospital and 90 in-hospital (and 2 unknown). 66% were male and the median age was 69 years (range 11-99 years). 38% occurred during daytime, 33% during evenings and 29% at night. Over all, the primary cause was unknown in 85/246 (29%). There was a decrease in CA caused by acute coronary syndrome (ACS) from 29/117 (25%) in 2007 to 19/129 (15%...

BACKGROUND Although epinephrine is essential for successful return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), the influence of this drug on recovery during the post-cardiac arrest phase is debatable. OBJECTIVES This study sought to investigate the relationship between pre-hospital use of epinephrine and functional survival among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) who achieved success...

BACKGROUND End-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) correlates with systemic blood flow and resuscitation rate during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and may potentially direct chest compression performance. We compared ETCO2-directed chest compressions with chest compressions optimized to pediatric basic life support guidelines in an infant swine model to determine the effect on rate of return of ...

Implementation barriers for extracorporeal life support in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) include initiation delay and candidate selection. We explored ischemia duration, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) duration, and physiologic variables that discriminated animals with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). We instrumented eight female swine (31.9 +/- 9.8 kg) with femoral artery ...

INTRODUCTION Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a significant cause of death and severe neurological disability. The only post-return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) therapy shown to increase survival is mild therapeutic hypothermia (MTH). The relationship between esophageal temperature post OHCA and outcome is still poorly defined. METHODS Prospective observational study of all OHCA ...

INTRODUCTION The evidence for adrenaline in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) resuscitation is inconclusive. We systematically reviewed the efficacy of adrenaline for adult OHCA. METHODS We searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library from inception to July 2013 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating standard dose adrenaline (SDA) to placebo, high dose adrenaline (HDA), o...