AIM OF THE REVIEW To review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, treatment and prognostication in relation to the post-cardiac arrest syndrome. METHODS Relevant articles were identified using PubMed, EMBASE and an American Heart Association EndNote master resuscitation reference library, supplemented by hand searches of key papers. Writing groups comprising international experts were assigned t...

Cardiac arrest is a deadly condition caused by a sudden failure of the heart with an inhospital mortality rate of ∼ 80%. Therefore, the ability to accurately estimate patients at high risk of cardiac arrest is crucial for improving the survival rate. Existing research generally fails to utilize a patient’s temporal dynamics. In this paper, we present two dynamic cardiac risk estimation models, ...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) increases the morbidity of CABG. The pathophysiology is uncertain, and its prevention remains suboptimal. This prospective, randomized study was designed to define the role of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and cardioplegic arrest in the pathogenesis of this complication. METHODS AND RESULTS Two hundred patients were prospectively randomized to (1) on-pump co...

A maternally inherited 828 kb microdeletion of 2q37.3 manifested in a 3-week-old premature boy as left juxtaposition the atrial appendages associated with tricuspid atresia, double outlet infundibulum, subvalvar pulmonary large secundum septal defect, and right aortic arch mirror-image branching, consistent developmental arrest early heart looping. To best our knowledge, no previous 2q37 deleti...

Inherited arrhythmia syndromes are a known, albeit rare, cause of sudden cardiac arrest which may present with characteristic electrocardiogram changes in patients with structurally normal heart. There are a variety of distinct arrhythmogenic syndromes that arise from mutations in voltage gated sodium channels, resulting in either gain or loss of function. We describe a patient with a primary i...

Hypothermic arrest, potassium arrest, and ischemic arrest, either singly or in combination, with or without coronary perfusion were studied in an isolated perfused rat heart preparation. Procedures that permitted the maintenance of high cellular levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate during arrest, e.g., coronary perfusion with hypothermic solutions or solutions containin...

The meaning of the term “cardioplegia” is “lesion, attack, wound or blow”, very different to how it is most commonly understood in most heart centers, where it relates to cardiac protection. Thus, “cardioplegic solution” is better defined as a solution capable of inducing controlled cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest induced by cardioplegic solutions can occur by hyperpolarization, depolarization o...

Hypothermic arrest, potassium arrest, and ischemic arrest, either singly or in combination, with or without coronary perfusion were studied in an isolated perfused rat heart preparation. Procedures that permitted the maintenance of high cellular levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate during arrest, e.g., coronary perfusion with hypothermic solutions or solutions containin...

Using infant piglets, we studied the effects of nonspecific inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthase by N G-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME; 3 mg/kg) on vascular pressures, regional blood flow, and cerebral metabolism before 8 min of cardiac arrest, during 6 min of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and at 10 and 60 min of reperfusion. We tested the hypotheses that nonspecific NO syntha...

Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation is defined as cardiac arrest in the absence of structural heart disease and other identifiable causes of ventricular fibrillation. It occurs in 1% to 9% of survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The mean age of these patients is 35 to 40 years, and 70% to 75% are male. The pathogenesis is unknown; psychosocial factors may play a role. Baseline clinical ...