Resuscitation
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At present there are about 1 million trained cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) rescuers in Sweden. CPR out-of-hospital is initiated about 2000 times a year in Sweden. However, very little is known about the bystanders' experiences and reactions. ⋯ Ninety-two percent of the bystanders had no hesitation because of fear of contracting the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus. Ninety-three percent of the rescuers regarded their intervention as a mainly positive experience. Of 425 interviewed rescuers, 99.5% were prepared to start CPR again.
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To provide researchers with a description of the method of dealing with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, and the results thereof, using the Utstein style. ⋯ of the 234 (61%) patients in whom resuscitation was attempted, 41 (17%) were hospitalised and 12 (5%) discharged were still alive at 1 year follow-up. Of the patients who showed signs of cardiac arrest of cardiac aetiology, classified as having initial ventricular fibrillation (VF) rhythms: 62% of the cases (5/8) were alive at 1 year if the cardiac arrest occurred in the presence of emergency medical personnel; 6% of the cases (2/31) were alive at 1 year if the cardiac arrest occurred in the presence of non-specialised bystanders.
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In this retrospective study we report our initial experience with percutaneous venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the emergency treatment of intractable cardiogenic shock or pulseless electrical activity. Between January 1994 and July 1995, percutaneous venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was attempted in seven patients (pulseless electrical activity, five patients; cardiogenic shock, two patients). In two of the seven patients, efforts at arterial cannulation resulted in cannula perforation at the level of the iliac artery. ⋯ Three patients were discharged from hospital, two of them made a full recovery, one sustained severe hypoxic brain injury. A few patients with intractable cardiogenic shock or pulseless electrical activity can be resuscitated with the help of emergency percutaneous venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Emergency venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is associated with a high rate of complications and its use should therefore be limited to selected patients with a rapidly correctable underlying cardiopulmonary pathology (anatomic, metabolic or hypothermic) who do not respond to conventional advanced cardiac life support.
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diagnosis of precipitating myocardial infarction is essential for management of victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, since investigations and treatment are determined by the underlying cause. Skeletal muscle and myocardial damage from external cardiac massage and defibrillation may complicate biochemical diagnosis of myocardial infarction. ⋯ skeletal muscle and myocardial damage occurs in survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and is related to the duration of resuscitation. This complicates biochemical diagnosis of underlying myocardial infarction. Specific high diagnostic threshold values for MB-CK and troponin T are needed to optimise diagnostic accuracy. The use of MB-CK fraction leads to greater diagnostic error because of the variability of muscle CK release after resuscitation.