Resuscitation
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Standard hospital CPR policies in many countries require CPR to be attempted on all patients having a cardiac arrest unless a Not-for-CPR order is in place. It has recently been shown that this approach is legally inappropriate in New Zealand. It appears that this argument may also potentially apply in other common law countries given the role that 'best interests' has in these jurisdictions in providing treatment to patients lacking decision-making capacity. ⋯ However, advanced planning is not always possible and it is legally inappropriate to require CPR to be performed when it is not in the patient's best interests. Notwithstanding the difficult practical balance that exists at the time of arrest between initiating CPR without delay or interruption for it to be effective for those whom CPR is in their best interests, and recognising as quickly as possible those patients for who CPR is not appropriate, it is argued that policies should be modified to allow clinicians to consider whether CPR is appropriate at time of arrest. Such a change may require ALS training to include a stronger emphasis on early recognition of patients for whom CPR is not in their best interests.
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Comparative Study
The effectiveness of ERC advanced life support (ALS) provider courses for the retention of ALS knowledge.
Out-of-hospital emergency physicians in Austria need mandatory emergency physician training, followed by biennial refresher courses. Currently, both standardized ERC advanced life support (ALS) provider courses and conventional refresher courses are offered. This study aimed to compare the retention of ALS-knowledge of out-of-hospital emergency physicians depending on whether they had or had not participated in an ERC-ALS provider course since 2005. ⋯ Out-of-hospital emergency physicians that had attended an ERC-ALS provider course since 2005 had a higher retention of ALS knowledge compared to non-ERC-ALS course participants.
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To assess the role of percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) for the resuscitation of patients with massive pulmonary embolism (PE) with circulatory collapse. We also compared outcomes for PCPS between patients with massive PE with circulatory collapse and patients with AMI with cardiogenic shock. ⋯ In our small case series, percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) had a life saving role in patients with massive PE and cardiac arrest. PCPS was also more effective in patients with massive PE with cardiac arrest than in patients with AMI and cardiac arrest.
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Comparative Study
Therapeutic hypothermia is associated with improved neurologic outcome and survival in cardiac arrest survivors of non-shockable rhythms.
Therapeutic hypothermia improves neurologic outcomes in patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. However, its role in patients with cardiac arrest due to non-shockable rhythms (pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and asystole) is unclear. We hypothesized that therapeutic hypothermia favorably impacts neurologic outcome and survival in patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest due to non-shockable rhythms. ⋯ Therapeutic hypothermia is associated with favorable neurologic outcome and survival in patients resuscitated after cardiac arrest due to non-shockable rhythms.
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Comparative Study
Cardioprotective effect of therapeutic hypothermia at 34°C against ischaemia/reperfusion injury mediated by PI3K and nitric oxide in a rat isolated heart model.
Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is widely used as a cardioprotective treatment for cardiac arrest. TH at 30-32°C during ischaemia and reperfusion has a cardioprotective effect. The aims of the study were to examine whether TH at 34°C with late induction (immediately after the start of reperfusion) has a cardioprotective effect and to determine if this effect is mediated by nitric oxide (NO) and phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K). ⋯ TH of 34°C showed a cardioprotective effect even with late initiation of cooling during reperfusion. The effect was mediated by NO and PI3K.