Therapeutic Hypothermia for Patients with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in North Carolina.

INTRODUCTION: While therapeutic hypothermia has been the standard of care for patients who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), recent trials have led to an advisory statement recommending a focus on targeted in-hospital temperature management and against initiation of prehospital hypothermia with rapid infusion of cooled saline. The aim of this study is to review the experience with therapeutic hypothermia in North Carolina. METHODS: We studied patients who suffered OHCA in North Carolina in 2012 captured in the CARES database as part of the Heart Rescue Project. We excluded patients without return of spontaneous circulation and patients without an advanced airway placed in the field to reduce selection bias. Bivariate distributions and multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine differences in survival to discharge and positive neurological outcome. RESULTS: 847 patients were included in the analysis of pre-hospital hypothermia. Of these patients, 55% received prehospital hypothermia. Prehospital initiation of hypothermia was associated with higher survival to hospital discharge (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.03-2.32) and improved neurologic outcome at discharge (OR 1.56 95% CI 1.01-2.40). In patients who survived to hospital admission (n = 537), in-hospital hypothermia was associated with a non-significant trend toward better survival to discharge (p = 0.18). CONCLUSION: We found that patients who received prehospital hypothermia had improved outcomes, a finding that may be due to a greater likelihood of receiving in-hospital hypothermia or a reflection of higher quality of pre-hospital care. These findings support ongoing efforts to improve all aspects of the chain of survival after cardiac arrest.

Targeted temperature management after out of hospital cardiac arrest: quo vadis?

Targeted temperature management (TTM) has become a cornerstone in the treatment of comatose post-cardiac arrest patients over the last two decades. Belief in the efficacy of this intervention for improving neurologically intact survival was based on two trials from 2002, one truly randomized-controlled and one small quasi-randomized trial, without clear confirmation of that finding. Subsequent large randomized trials reported no difference in outcomes between TTM at 33 vs. 36°C and no benefit of TTM at 33°C as compared with fever control alone. Given that these results may help shape post-cardiac arrest patient care, we sought to review the history and rationale as well as trial evidence for TTM, critically review the TTM2 trial, and highlight gaps in knowledge and research needs for the future. Finally, we provide contemporary guidance for the use of TTM in daily clinical practice.

Race Differences in Interventions and Survival After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in North Carolina, 2010 to 2014.

Background Following the implementation of the HeartRescue project, with interventions in the community, emergency medical services, and hospitals to improve care and outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) in North Carolina, improved bystander and first responder treatments as well as survival were observed. This study aimed to determine whether these improvements were consistent across Black versus White individuals. Methods and Results Using the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES), we identified OHCA from 16 counties in North Carolina (population 3 million) from 2010 to 2014. Temporal changes in interventions and outcomes were assessed using multilevel multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for patient and socioeconomic neighborhood-level factors. Of 7091 patients with OHCA, 36.5% were Black and 63.5% were White. Black patients were younger, more females, had more unwitnessed arrests and non-shockable rhythm (Black: 81.0%; White: 75.4%). From 2010 to 2014, the adjusted probabilities of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) went from 38.5% to 51.2% in White, P<0.001; and 36.9% to 45.6% in Black, P=0.002, and first-responder defibrillation went from 13.2% to 17.2% in White, P=0.002; and 14.7% to 17.3% in Black, P=0.16. From 2010 to 2014, survival to discharge only increased in White (8.0% to 11.4%, P=0.004; Black 8.9% to 9.5%, P=0.60), though, in shockable patients the probability of survival to discharge went from 24.8% to 34.6% in White, P=0.02; and 21.7% to 29.0% in Black, P=0. 10. Conclusions After the HeartRescue program, bystander CPR and first-responder defibrillation increased in both patient groups; however, survival only increased significantly for White patients.

Improving bystander defibrillation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests at home.

AIMS: Most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur at home with dismal bystander defibrillation rates. We investigated automated external defibrillator coverage of home arrests, and the proportion potentially reachable with an automated external defibrillator before emergency medical service arrival according to different bystander activation strategies. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cardiac arrests in homes (private/nursing/senior homes) in Copenhagen, Denmark (2008-2016) and registered automated external defibrillators (2007-2016), were identified. Automated external defibrillator coverage (distance from arrest to automated external defibrillator) and accessibility at the time of arrest were examined according to route distance to nearest automated external defibrillator and emergency medical service response time. The proportion of arrests reachable with an automated external defibrillator by bystander was calculated using two-way (from patient to automated external defibrillator and back) and one-way (from automated external defibrillator to patient) potential activation strategies. Of 1879 home arrests, automated external defibrillator coverage ≤100 m was low (6.3%) and a two-way bystander could potentially only retrieve an accessible automated external defibrillator before emergency medical service in 31.1% (n=37) of cases. If a bystander only needed to travel one-way to bring an automated external defibrillator (≤100 m, ≤250 m and ≤500 m), 45.4% (n=54/119), 37.1% (n=196/529) and 29.8% (n=350/1174) could potentially be reached before the emergency medical service based on current automated external defibrillator accessibility. CONCLUSIONS: Few home arrests were reachable with an automated external defibrillator before emergency medical service if bystanders needed to travel from patient to automated external defibrillator and back. However, nearly one-third of arrests ≤500 m of an automated external defibrillator could be reached before emergency medical service arrival if the bystander only needed to travel one-way from the automated external defibrillator to the patient.

Association of Public Health Initiatives With Outcomes for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest at Home and in Public Locations.

Importance: Little is known about the influence of comprehensive public health initiatives according to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) location, particularly at home, where resuscitation efforts and outcomes have historically been poor. Objective: To describe temporal trends in bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first-responder defibrillation for OHCAs stratified by home vs public location and their association with survival and neurological outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This observational study reviewed 8269 patients with OHCAs (5602 [67.7%] at home and 2667 [32.3%] in public) for whom resuscitation was attempted using data from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2014. The setting was 16 counties in North Carolina. Exposures: Patients were stratified by home vs public OHCA. Public health initiatives to improve bystander and first-responder interventions included training members of the general population in CPR and in the use of automated external defibrillators, teaching first responders about team-based CPR (eg, automated external defibrillator use and high-performance CPR), and instructing dispatch centers on recognition of cardiac arrest. Main Outcomes and Measures: Association of resuscitation efforts with survival and neurological outcomes from 2010 through 2014. Results: Among home OHCA patients (n = 5602), the median age was 64 years, and 62.2% were male; among public OHCA patients (n = 2667), the median age was 68 years, and 61.5% were male. After comprehensive public health initiatives, the proportion of patients receiving bystander CPR increased at home (from 28.3% [275 of 973] to 41.3% [498 of 1206], P < .001) and in public (from 61.0% [275 of 451] to 70.5% [424 of 601], P = .01), while first-responder defibrillation increased at home (from 42.2% [132 of 313] to 50.8% [212 of 417], P = .02) but not significantly in public (from 33.1% [58 of 175] to 37.8% [93 of 246], P = .17). Survival to discharge improved for arrests at home (from 5.7% [60 of 1057] to 8.1% [100 of 1238], P = .047) and in public (from 10.8% [50 of 464] to 16.2% [98 of 604], P = .04). Compared with emergency medical services-initiated CPR and resuscitation, patients with home OHCA were significantly more likely to survive to hospital discharge if they received bystander-initiated CPR and first-responder defibrillation (odds ratio, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.01-2.38). Patients with arrests in public were most likely to survive if they received both bystander-initiated CPR and defibrillation (odds ratio, 4.33; 95% CI, 2.11-8.87). Conclusions and Relevance: After coordinated and comprehensive public health initiatives, more patients received bystander CPR and first-responder defibrillation at home and in public, which was associated with improved survival.

Long-Term Post-Discharge Risks in Older Survivors of Myocardial Infarction With and Without Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

BACKGROUND: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) associated with acute myocardial infarction (MI) confers high in-hospital mortality; however, among those patients who survive, little is known regarding their post-discharge mortality and health care use rates. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine 1-year survival and readmission rates after hospital discharge of older MI survivors with and without OHCA. METHODS: Using linked Acute Coronary Treatment and Intervention Outcomes Network Registry-Get With the Guidelines and Medicare data, this study analyzed 54,860 patients with MI who were older than 65 years of age and who had been discharged alive from 545 U.S. hospitals between April 2011 and December 2012. Multivariable models examined the associations between MI-associated OHCA and 1-year post-discharge mortality or all-cause readmission rates. Patients discharged to hospice were excluded, given their known poor prognosis. RESULTS: Following hospital discharge, compared with older MI survivors without OHCA (n = 54,219), those with OHCA (n = 641, 1.2%) were more likely to be younger, male, and smokers, but less likely to have diabetes, heart failure, or prior revascularization. OHCA patients presented more often with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (63.2% vs. 29.6%) and cardiogenic shock (29.0% vs. 2.2%); however, among in-hospital MI survivors, OHCA was not associated with 1-year post-discharge mortality (unadjusted 13.8% vs. 15.8%, p = 0.17, adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68 to 1.15). In contrast, MI survivors with OHCA actually had lower unadjusted and adjusted risk of the composite outcome of 1-year mortality or all-cause readmission than patients without OHCA (44.0% vs. 50.0%, p = 0.03, adjusted HR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.72 to 0.97). CONCLUSIONS: Among older patients with MI who survived to hospital discharge and were not discharged to hospice, those presenting with OHCA did not have higher 1-year mortality or health care use rates compared with those MI survivors without OHCA. These findings show that the early risk of adverse events in patients with OHCA does not persist after hospital discharge, and they support efforts to improve initial survival rates of older patients with MI and OHCA.

Incidence and influence of hospitalization for recurrent syncope and its effect on short- and long-term all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Recurrence of syncope is a common event, but the influence of recurrent syncope on the risk of death has not previously been investigated on a large scale. We examined the prognostic impact of recurrent syncope in a nationwide cohort of patients with syncope. All patients (n = 70,819) hospitalized from 2001 to 2009 in Denmark with a first-time diagnosis of syncope aged from 15 to 90 years were identified from national registries. Recurrence of syncope was incorporated as a time-dependent variable in multivariable-adjusted Cox models on the outcomes of 30-day, 1-year, and long-term all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death. During a mean follow-up of 3.9 ± 2.6 years, a total of 11,621 patients (16.4%) had at least 1 hospitalization for recurrent syncope, with a median time to recurrence of 251 days (33 to 364). A total of 14,270 patients died, and 3,204 deaths were preceded by a hospitalization for recurrent syncope. The long-term risk of all-cause death was significantly associated with recurrent syncope (hazard ratio 2.64, 95% confidence interval 2.54 to 2.75) compared with those with no recurrence. On 1-year mortality, recurrent syncope was associated with a 3.2-fold increase in risk and on 30-day mortality associated with a threefold increase. The increased mortality risk was consistent over age groups 15 to 39, 40 to 59, and 60 to 89 years, and a similar pattern of increase in both long-term and short-term risk of cardiovascular death was evident. In conclusion, recurrent syncope is independently associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality across all age groups exhibiting a high prognostic influence. Increased awareness on high short- and long-term risk of adverse events in subjects with recurrent syncope is warranted for future risk stratification.