Resuscitation
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Comparative Study
Prediction of failure to survive following in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation: comparison of two predictive instruments.
The purpose of this study is to compare two clinical predictive rules, the pre-arrest-morbidity (PAM) index and the prognosis-after-resuscitation (PAR) score, which predict failure to survive following in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The study population consisted of 274 consecutive adult patients who underwent CPR at University College Hospital in Galway, Ireland over a 2-year period. The PAM and PAR scores were calculated from the most recent data available for each variable prior to cardiac arrest. ⋯ The PAR score also had a greater area under the ROC curve, although this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.07). In summary, the PAR score performed better than the PAM index in the identification of patients who are unlikely to survive following CPR. Although further confirmation is necessary, it may provide useful prognostic information to physicians and patients involved with decisions about do-not-resuscitate orders.
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Comparative Study
Mild hypothermia after cardiac arrest in dogs does not affect postarrest cerebral oxygen uptake/delivery mismatching.
To compare measurements of cerebral arteriovenous oxygen content differences (oxygen extraction ratios, oxygen utilization coefficients) in dogs after cardiac arrest, resuscitated under normothermia vs. mild hypothermia for 1-2 h or 12 h. ⋯ After prolonged cardiac arrest, critically low cerebral venous O2 values suggest inadequate cerebral O2 delivery. Brief or prolonged mild hypothermia after arrest does not mitigate the postarrest cerebral O2 uptake/delivery mismatching.
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Comparative Study
Resuscitation time limits in experimental pulseless electrical activity cardiac arrest using cardiopulmonary bypass.
The objective of this study was to determine the time limits of resuscitation following increasing intervals of untreated pulseless electrical activity using cardiopulmonary bypass as the resuscitation tool. ⋯ Cardiopulmonary bypass is effective at restoring spontaneous circulation when used early in asphyxial pulseless electrical activity cardiac arrest. Cardiopulmonary bypass is less effective when used after 15 min of pulseless electrical activity with no survivors following 20 min of arrest.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Early defibrillation by emergency physicians or emergency medical technicians? A controlled, prospective multi-centre study.
In a controlled, prospective multi-centre study, defibrillation by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) was compared with the current standard of care in Germany--defibrillation by emergency physicians (EPs)-in order to answer the following questions: can EMTs in a two-tiered emergency medical services (EMS) system with physicians in the field defibrillate earlier than, and as safely as EPs? Does defibrillation by EMTs (study group) affect survival rate and long-term prognosis of patients in ventricular fibrillation (VF), as compared with the current national standards in resuscitation (basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by EMTs, and defibrillation by physicians: control group? ⋯ In our study, EMT defibrillation was equally effective as defibrillation by EPs, but failed to improve survival rates or long-term outcome of patients in VF significantly, compared to EP defibrillation. Due to a reduction in the time intervals from collapse to defibrillation and to ROSC, as well as in adrenalin doses, by EMT-defibrillation, EMTs in Germany should defibrillate if they reach a patient prior to an EP, provided they have received continuous medical training and supervision.