Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Maximum value of end-tidal carbon dioxide concentrations during resuscitation as an indicator of return of spontaneous circulation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Background: The end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) concentration during resuscitation (CPR) of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has an increasingly well-known prognostic value. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated its maximum value in different etiologies. Methods: It was a retrospective, observational, multicentre study from the French OHCA Registry. ⋯ The probability of ROSC increased with the value of ETCO2 in the 3 etiologies studied. Conclusions: The maximum value of ETCO2 during OHCA resuscitation was strongly associated with ROSC, especially in the case of a traumatic cause. This suggests that a single elevated ETCO2 value, regardless of time, could help to predict the outcome.