Pediatrics
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To compare the efficacy of high-dose epinephrine (HDE) and standard-dose epinephrine (SDE) for out-of-hospital treatment of pediatric cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA). ⋯ HDE does not seem to improve the rates of ROER and ROSC, hospital admission, survival, or neurologic outcome when compared with SDE for treatment of out-of-hospital pediatric CPA. A large, blinded prospective clinical trial testing different epinephrine doses is necessary to determine drug efficacy and safety. Future pediatric CPA studies must standardize reporting of core data elements, using the adult Utstein criteria modified for pediatrics, to allow valid treatment comparisons. Overall, survival in out-of-hospital pediatric CPA is dismal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)