Resuscitation
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With a growing number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors globally, the focus of OHCA management has now broadened to survivorship. An outcome central to survivorship is health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This systematic review aimed to synthesise evidence related to the determinants of HRQoL of OHCA survivors. ⋯ Individual characteristics, symptoms, and functioning played significant roles in explaining the variability in HRQoL. Significant non-modifiable determinants such as age and sex could be used to identify populations at risk of poorer HRQoL, while significant modifiable determinants such as psychological health and neurocognitive functioning could serve as targets for post-discharge screening and rehabilitation plans. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022359303.
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Observational Study
Diagnostic Yield, Safety, and Outcomes of Head-to-Pelvis Sudden Death CT Imaging in Post Arrest Care: The CT FIRST Cohort Study.
Our aim was to test whether a head-to-pelvis CT scan improves diagnostic yield and speed to identify causes for out of hospital circulatory arrest (OHCA). ⋯ NCT03111043.
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The aim of this study was to develop a risk adjustment strategy, including effect modifiers, for benchmarking emergency medical service (EMS) performance for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Australia and New Zealand. ⋯ The development of risk adjustment models with good discrimination is an important step in benchmarking EMS performance for OHCA. The Utstein variables are important in risk-adjustment, but only explain a small proportion of the variation in survival. Further research is required to understand what factors contribute to the variation in survival between EMS.
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Early, accurate outcome prediction after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is critical for clinical decision-making and resource allocation. We sought to validate the revised post-Cardiac Arrest Syndrome for Therapeutic hypothermia (rCAST) score in a United States cohort and compare its prognostic performance to the Pittsburgh Cardiac Arrest Category (PCAC) and Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) scores. ⋯ The rCAST score can reliably predict poor outcome in a United States cohort of OHCA patients regardless of TTM status and outperforms the PCAC score.
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Deciding on "termination of resuscitation" (TOR) is a dilemma for any physician facing cardiac arrest. Due to the lack of evidence-based criteria and scarcity of the existing guidelines, crucial arbitration to interrupt resuscitation remains at the practitioner's discretion. ⋯ We demonstrate the existence of individual physician biases in their decision about TOR. The impact of this bias is greater than that of a no-flow duration lasting ten to twenty minutes. Our results plead in favor developing tools and guidelines to guide physicians in their decision.