When an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patient receives cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the emergency department (ED), blood laboratory test results can be obtained by using point-of-care testing during CPR. In the present study, the relationship between blood laboratory test results during CPR and outcomes of OHCA patients was investigated. This study was a multicenter retrospective analysis of prospective registered data that included 2716 OHCA patients. Data from the EDs of three university hospitals in different areas were collected from January 2009 to December 2014. Univariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to elucidate the factors associated with survival to discharge and neurological outcomes. A final analysis was conducted by including patients who had no prehospital return of spontaneous circulation and those who underwent rapid blood laboratory examination during CPR. Overall, 2229 OHCA patients were included in the final analysis. Among them, the rate of survival to discharge and a good Cerebral Performance Categories Scale score were 14% and 4.4%, respectively. The pH level was independently related to survival to hospital discharge (adjusted OR 6.287, 95% CI 2.601–15.197; p < 0.001) and good neurological recovery (adjusted OR 15.395, 95% CI 3.439–68.911; p < 0.001). None of the neurologically intact patients had low pH levels (< 6.8) or excessive potassium levels (> 8.5 mEq/L) during CPR. Among the blood laboratory test results during CPR of OHCA patients, pH and potassium levels were observed as independent factors associated with survival to hospital discharge, and pH level was considered as an independent factor related to neurological recovery.

We aimed to compare rescuer fatigue and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quality between standard 30:2 CPR (ST-CPR) and chest compression only CPR (CO-CPR) performed for 8 minutes on a realistic manikin by following the 2010 CPR guidelines. All 36 volunteers (laypersons; 18 men and 18 women) were randomized to ST-CPR or CO-CPR at first, and then each CPR technique was performed for 8 minutes with a 3-hour rest interval. We measured the mean blood pressure (MBP) of the volunteers before and after performing each CPR technique, and continuously monitored the heart rate (HR) of the volunteers during each CPR technique using the MRx monitor. CPR quality measures included the depth of chest compression (CC) and the number of adequate CCs per minute. The adequate CC rate significantly differed between the 2 groups after 2 minutes, with it being higher in the ST-CPR group than in the CO-CPR group. Additionally, the adequate CC rate significantly differed between the 2 groups during 8 minutes for male volunteers (p =0.012). The number of adequate CCs was higher in the ST-CPR group than in the CO-CPR group after 3 minutes (p =0.001). The change in MBP before and after performing CPR did not differ between the 2 groups. However, the change in HR during 8 minutes of CPR was higher in the CO-CPR group than in the ST-CPR group (p =0.007). The rate and number of adequate CCs were significantly lower with the CO-CPR than with the ST-CPR after 2 and 6 minutes, respectively, and performer fatigue was higher with the CO-CPR than with the ST-CPR during 8 minutes of CPR.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of adverse events (AEs) during targeted temperature management (TTM) and other AEs and concomitant treatments during the advanced critical care period with poor neurological outcome at hospital discharge in adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients.Methods: This was a retrospective study using Korean Hypothermia Network registry data of adult OHCA patients treated with TTM in 24 teaching hospitals throughout South Korea from 2007 to 2012. Demographic characteristics, resuscitation and post-resuscitation variables, AEs, and concomitant treatments during TTM and the advanced critical care were collected. The primary outcome was poor neurological outcome, defined as a cerebral performance category (CPC) score of 3–5 at hospital discharge. The AEs and concomitant treatments were individually entered into the best multivariable predictive model of poor neurological outcome to evaluate the associations between each variable and outcome.Results: A total of 930 patients, including 704 for whom a complete dataset of AEs and covariates was available for multivariable modeling, were included in the analysis; 476 of these patients exhibited poor neurological outcome [CPC 3 = 50 (7.1 %), CPC 4 = 214 (30.4 %), and CPC 5 = 212 (30.1 %)]. Common AEs included hyperglycemia (45.6 %), hypokalemia (31.3 %), arrhythmia (21.3 %) and hypotension (29 %) during cooling, and hypotension (21.6 %) during rewarming. Bleeding (5 %) during TTM was a rare AE. Common AEs during the advanced critical care included pneumonia (39.6 %), myoclonus (21.9 %), seizures (21.7 %) and hypoglycemia within 72 hours (23 %). After adjusting for independent predictors of outcome, cooling- and rewarming-related AEs were not significantly associated with poor neurological outcome. However, sepsis, myoclonus, seizure, hypoglycemia within 72 hours and anticonvulsant use during the advanced critical care were associated with poor neurological outcome [adjusted odds ratios (95 % confidence intervals) of 3.12 (1.40–6.97), 3.72 (1.93–7.16), 4.02 (2.04–7.91), 2.03 (1.09–3.78), and 1.69 (1.03–2.77), respectively]. Alternatively, neuromuscular blocker use was inversely associated with poor neurological outcome (0.48 [0.28–0.84]).Conclusions: Cooling- and rewarming-related AEs were not associated with poor neurological outcome at hospital discharge. Sepsis, myoclonus, seizure, hypoglycemia within 72 hours and anticonvulsant use during the advanced critical care period were associated with poor neurological outcome at hospital discharge in our study.

Hwang SO, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2016 Sep;31(9):1491-1498. http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2016.31.9.1491