Resuscitation
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Multicenter Study
Outcomes of asphyxial cardiac arrest patients who were treated with therapeutic hypothermia: A multicenter retrospective cohort study.
While therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is in clinical use, its efficacy in certain patient groups is unclear. This study was designed to describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac-arrest (OHCA) caused by asphyxia, who were treated with TH. ⋯ About half of patients who underwent TH after asphyxial cardiac arrest survived, but a very small number showed a good neurologic outcome. The TH maintenance times were not uniform in these patients. Additional research regarding both the appropriate TH guidelines for patients with asphyxial cardiac arrest and improvement of their neurologic outcome is needed.
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Medical Emergency Teams (MET) activations are more frequent during daytime and weekdays, but whether due to greater patient instability, proximity from admission time, or caregiver concentration is unclear. We sought to determine if instability events, when they occurred, varied in their temporal distribution. ⋯ Although instability alerts are distributed most frequently within 24h after SDU admission in unstable patients, they are otherwise not more likely to distribute proportionally more frequently during certain clock hours. If MET utilization peaks do not coincide with admission time peaks, other variables contributing to unrecognized instability should be explored.
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Mild therapeutic hypothermia (MTH) has been known to be associated with good neurological recovery after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (P-ROSC) is associated with better hospital outcomes than ROSC at emergency department (ED-ROSC). The study aims to examine the association between MTH by location of ROSC and good neurological recovery after OHCA. ⋯ MTH was significantly associated with good neurological recovery among OHCA survivors. In the interaction model, MTH showed significant benefits in patient group with ROSC at ED, not in P-ROSC group.
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Bradycardia is a common finding in patients undergoing therapeutic hypothermia (TH) following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), presumably as a normal physiological response to low body temperature. We hypothesized that a normal physiological response with sinus bradycardia (SB) indicates less neurological damage and therefore would be associated with lower mortality. ⋯ Sinus bradycardia during therapeutic hypothermia is independently associated with a lower 180-day mortality rate and may thus be a novel, early marker of favorable outcome in comatose survivors of OHCA.
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Despite limited recommendations for using sodium bicarbonate (SB) during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), we hypothesized that SB continues to be used frequently during pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) and that its use varies by hospital-specific, patient-specific, and event-specific characteristics. ⋯ SB is used frequently during pediatric pulseless IHCA, yet there is a significant trend toward less routine use over the last decade. Because SB is more likely to be used in an ICU, with prolonged CPR, and concurrently with other pharmacologic interventions; its use during CPR may be associated with poor prognosis due to an association with "last ditch" efforts of resuscitation rather than causation.