Lancet
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Randomised comparison of epinephrine and vasopressin in patients with out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation.
Studies in animals have suggested that intravenous vasopressin is associated with better vital-organ perfusion and resuscitation rates than is epinephrine in the treatment of cardiac arrest. We did a randomised comparison of vasopressin with epinephrine in patients with ventricular fibrillation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. ⋯ In this preliminary study, a significantly larger proportion of patients created with vasopressin than of those treated with epinephrine were resuscitated successfully from out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation and survived for 24 h. Based upon these findings, larger multicentre studies of vasopressin in the treatment of cardiac arrest are needed.