Resuscitation
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Cardiopulmonary resuscitation after cardiac arrest initiates a whole-body ischemia-reperfusion injury, which may activate the innate immune system, including the complement system. We hypothesized that complement activation and subsequent release of soluble endothelial activation markers were associated with cerebral outcome including death. ⋯ Complement system activation, reflected by sC5b-9 at admission, leading to subsequent endothelial cell activation, was associated with poor outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients.
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The 2015 Utstein guidelines stated that 30-day survival could be used as an alternative to survival to hospital discharge (STHD) as the primary survival outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) studies. We sought to ascertain the equivalence (concordance) of these two survival outcome measures. ⋯ We found that STHD and 30-day survival were equivalent survival metrics in our OHCA Registry. However, given potential differences in health systems, we suggest that 30-day survival is likely to enable more reliable comparisons across jurisdictions.
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Seismocardiography measures the vibrations produced by the beating heart using an accelerometer sensor placed on the chest. We evaluated the ability of smartphone seismocardiography to distinguish between the presence and absence of spontaneous circulation. ⋯ In conclusion, blinded observers accurately distinguished between seismocardiography signals from patients with and without spontaneous circulation.
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Observational Study
Expired Carbon Dioxide during Newborn Resuscitation as Predictor of Outcome.
To explore and compare expired CO2 (ECO2) and heart rate (HR), during newborn resuscitation with bag-mask ventilation, as predictors of 24-h outcome. ⋯ Higher levels and a faster rise in ECO2 and HR during newborn resuscitation were independently associated with improved survival compared to persisting low values. ECO2 increased before HR and may serve as an earlier predictor of survival.
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The emergency department (ED) plays an important role in out-hospital-cardiac arrest (OHCA) management. However, ED outcomes are not widely reported. This study aimed to (1) describe OHCA ED outcomes and reasons for ED deaths, and (2) whether these differed between hospitals. ⋯ Our study found wide variation in survival between EDs, which was associated with hospital characteristics. Such data suggests the need for a detailed review of ED deaths, particularly in non-cardiac arrest centres, and potentially the need for monitoring ED survival as a measure of quality.