• Alessandro Proclemer, Dan Dobreanu, Laurent Pison, Gregory Y H Lip, Jesper Hastrup Svendsen, Carina Blomström Lundqvist, and Scientific Initiative Committee-European Heart Rhythm Association.
• Department of Cardiology, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria and IRCAB Foundation, Udine, Italy. proclemer.alessandro@aoud.sanita.fvg.it
• Europace. 2012 Aug 1;14(8):1195-8.

AimsThe purpose of this EP wire is to examine clinical practice in the field of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) management, with special focus on in-hospital diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.Methods And ResultsFifty-three European centres, all members of the EHRA-EP Research network, completed the questions of the survey. A dedicated strategy for OHCA management is active in 85% of the centres. Shockable tachyarrhythmias such as initial OHCA rhythm are reported in >70% of the patients in 64% of the centres. In-hospital therapeutic hypothermia was applied in >50% of the patients in 53% of the centres and in <50% in 47% of the centres. In the year 2011 90% of the centres performed >10 primary percutaneous coronary angioplasties (PCI) in OHCA patients. The survival rate, when the initial documented rhythm was shockable, was >30% in 42% of the centres, and conversely, was significantly lower when asystole or pulseless electrical activity was the initial rhythm. A favourable neurological recovery was reported in >50% of the patients in 13 (26%) centres and in 21-50% of the patients in 21 (44%).ConclusionsThis EP wire survey demonstrates a favourable implementation in OHCA of an invasive management strategy, including coronary angiography/PCI and implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy, while therapeutic hypothermia appears to be underused.

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