• Katrina F Hurley, Kirk Magee, and Robert Green.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, IWK Health Centre, 5850/5980 University Ave, PO Box 9700, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3K 6R8.
• Cochrane Db Syst Rev. 2013 Jan 1;8:CD006781.

BackgroundIn cardiac ischaemia, the accumulation of adenosine may lead to or exacerbate bradyasystole and diminish the effectiveness of catecholamines administered during resuscitation. Aminophylline is a competitive adenosine antagonist. Case studies suggest that aminophylline may be effective for atropine-resistant bradyasystolic arrest.ObjectivesTo determine the effects of aminophylline in the treatment of patients in bradyasystolic cardiac arrest, primarily survival to hospital discharge. We also considered survival to admission, return of spontaneous circulation, neurological outcomes and adverse events.Search MethodsWe searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; The Cochrane Library, Issue 4, 2009), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, LILACS, ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. We checked the reference lists of retrieved articles, reviewed conference proceedings, contacted experts and searched further using Google. The search strategy was updated in March 2012.Selection CriteriaAll randomised controlled trials comparing intravenous aminophylline with administered placebo in adults with non-traumatic, normothermic bradyasystolic cardiac arrest who were treated with standard advanced cardiac life support (ACLS).Data Collection And AnalysisTwo review authors independently reviewed the studies and extracted the included data. We contacted study authors when needed. Pooled risk ratio (RR) was estimated for each study outcome. Subgroup analysis was predefined according to the timing of aminophylline administration.Main ResultsFive trials are included in this analysis, all of which were performed in the prehospital setting. The risk of bias was low in four of these studies (n = 1186). The trials accumulated 1254 participants. Aminophylline was found to have no effect on survival to hospital discharge (RR 0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.12 to 2.74) or on secondary survival outcome (survival to hospital admission: RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.39; return of spontaneous circulation: RR 1.15, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.49). Survival was rare (6/1254), making data about neurological outcomes and adverse events quite limited. The planned subgroup analysis for early administration of aminophylline included 37 participants. No one in the subgroup survived to hospital discharge.Authors' ConclusionsThe prehospital administration of aminophylline in bradyasystolic arrest is not associated with improved return of circulation, survival to admission or survival to hospital discharge. The benefits of aminophylline administered early in resuscitative efforts are not known.

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