Journal of cardiovascular electrophysiology
-
J. Cardiovasc. Electrophysiol. · Dec 1997
The effects of ventricular fibrillation duration and a preceding unsuccessful shock on the probability of defibrillation success using biphasic waveforms in pigs.
While the defibrillation threshold has been reported to increase with ventricular fibrillation (VF) duration for monophasic waveforms, the effect of VF duration for biphasic waveforms is unknown. ⋯ (1) As opposed to monophasic shocks, ED 50 is significantly lower for biphasic shocks delivered after 20 seconds of VF compared with shocks delivered after 10 seconds of VF in pigs. (2) An unsuccessful biphasic shock in pigs does not affect the defibrillation efficacy for a subsequent shock. (3) ED 50 for a biphasic shock delivered after 20 seconds of VF is linearly related to ED 50 for a shock delivered after 10 seconds of VF.
-
J. Cardiovasc. Electrophysiol. · Dec 1997
Low-energy impedance-compensating biphasic waveforms terminate ventricular fibrillation at high rates in victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. LIFE Investigators.
New automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), which are smaller, lighter, easier to use, and less costly make the goal of widespread AED deployment and early defibrillation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest feasible. The objective of this study was to observe the performance of a low-energy impedance-compensating biphasic waveform in the out-of-hospital setting on 100 consecutive victims of sudden cardiac arrest. ⋯ Low-energy impedance-compensating biphasic waveforms terminate long-duration VF at high rates in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Use of this waveform allows AED device characteristics consistent with widespread AED deployment and early defibrillation.