• Anna Adielsson, Jacob Hollenberg, Thomas Karlsson, Jonny Lindqvist, Stefan Lundin, Johan Silfverstolpe, Leif Svensson, and Johan Herlitz.
• Department of Anaesthesiaand Intensive Care Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.
• Heart. 2011 Sep 1;97(17):1391-6.

ObjectivesIn a national perspective, to describe survival among patients found in ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia witnessed by a bystander and with a presumed cardiac aetiology and answer two principal questions: (1) what are the changes over time? and (2) which are the factors of importance?DesignObservational register study.SettingSweden.PatientsAll patients included in the Swedish Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Register between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2009 who were found in bystander-witnessed ventricular fibrillation with a presumed cardiac aetiology. Interventions Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation.Main Outcome MeasuresSurvival to 1 month.ResultsIn all, 7187 patients fulfilled the set criteria. Age, place of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and gender did not change. Bystander CPR increased from 46% to 73%; 95% CI for OR 1.060 to 1.081 per year. The median delay from collapse to defibrillation increased from 12 min to 14 min (p for trend 0.0004). Early survival increased from 28% to 45% (95% CI 1.044 to 1.065) and survival to 1 month increased from 12% to 23% (95% CI 1.058 to 1.086). Strong predictors of early and late survival were a short interval from collapse to defibrillation, bystander CPR, female gender and OHCA outside the home.ConclusionIn a long-term perspective in Sweden, survival to 1 month after ventricular fibrillation almost doubled. This was associated with a marked increase in bystander CPR. Strong predictors of outcome were a short delay to defibrillation, bystander CPR, female gender and place of collapse.

19 keywords...

hide…