• A Norvik, E Unneland, D Bergum, D G Buckler, A Bhardwaj, T Eftestøl, E Aramendi, T Nordseth, B S Abella, J T Kvaløy, and E Skogvoll.
• Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway; Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, St Olav University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: anders.norvik@ntnu.no.
• Resuscitation. 2022 Jul 1; 176: 117-124.

BackgroundPEA is often seen during resuscitation, either as the presenting clinical state in cardiac arrest or as a secondary rhythm following transient return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia (VF/VT), or asystole (ASY). The aim of this study was to explore and quantify the evolution from primary/secondary PEA to ROSC in adults during in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA).MethodsWe analyzed 700 IHCA episodes at one Norwegian hospital and three U.S. hospitals at different time periods between 2002 and 2021. During resuscitation ECG, chest compressions, and ventilations were recorded by defibrillators. Each event was manually annotated using a graphical application. We quantified the transition intensities, i.e., the propensity to change from PEA to another clinical state using time-to-event statistical methods.ResultsMost patients experienced PEA at least once before achieving ROSC or being declared dead. Time average transition intensities to ROSC from primary PEA (n = 230) and secondary PEA after ASY (n = 72) were 0.1 per min, peaking at 4 and 7 minutes, respectively; thus, a patient in these types of PEA showed a 10% chance of achieving ROSC in one minute. Much higher transition intensities to ROSC, average of 0.15 per min, were observed for secondary PEA after VF/VT (n = 83) or after ROSC (n = 134).DiscussionPEA is a crossroad in which the subsequent course is determined. The four distinct presentations of PEA behave differently on important characteristics. A transition to PEA during resuscitation should encourage the resuscitation team to continue resuscitative efforts.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

21 keywords...

hide…