• E B Cohn, F Lefevre, P R Yarnold, M J Arron, and G J Martin.
• Division of General Internal Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611.
• J Gen Intern Med. 1993 Jul 1; 8 (7): 347-53.

ObjectiveTo better clarify patient factors that predict survival from in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), using two methods: 1) meta-analysis and 2) validation of a prediction model, the pre-arrest morbidity (PAM) index.DesignMeta-analysis of previously published studies by standard techniques. Retrospective chart review of validation sample.SettingUniversity-affiliated teaching hospital.Patients/ParticipantsMeta-analytic sample of 21 previous studies from 1965-1989. The validation sample consisted of all patients surviving resuscitation from the authors' hospital during the period September 1986 to January 1991. A matched sample of patients who did not survive from the same time period was used as the comparison group.InterventionsNone.Measurements And Main ResultsThe strongest negative predictors of survival, by meta-analysis, were renal failure (r = 0.088, p < 0.0002), cancer (r = 0.08, p < 0.0002), and age more than 60 years (r = 0.063, p < 0.006). Sepsis (r = 0.046, p < 0.02), recent cerebrovascular accident (CVA) (r = 0.038, p < 0.04), and congestive heart failure (CHF) class III/IV (r = 0.036, p < 0.05) were weaker negative predictors. Presence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was a significant positive predictor of survival (r = 0.15, p < 0.0001). The PAM score was highly predictive of survival in a logistic regression model (p < 0.0003, R2 = 9.6%). No patient who survived to discharge had a PAM score higher than 8.ConclusionMeta-analysis reveals that the most significant negative predictors of survival from CPR are renal failure, cancer, and age more than 60 years, while AMI is a significant positive predictor. The PAM index is a useful method of stratifying probability of survival from CPR, especially for those patients with high PAM scores, who have essentially no chance of survival.

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