The chance of survival and the functional outcome after in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation in older people: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: physicians are frequently confronted with the question whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a medically appropriate treatment for older people. For physicians, patients and relatives, it is important to know the chance of survival and the functional outcome after CPR in order to make an informed decision. METHODS: a systematic search was performed in MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane up to November 2012. Studies that were included described the chance of survival, the social status and functional outcome after in-hospital CPR in older people aged 70 years and above. RESULTS: we identified 11,377 publications of which 29 were included in this review; 38.6% of the patients who were 70 years and older had a return of spontaneous circulation. More than half of the patients who initially survived resuscitation died in the hospital before hospital discharge. The pooled survival to discharge after in-hospital CPR was 18.7% for patients between 70 and 79 years old, 15.4% for patients between 80 and 89 years old and 11.6% for patients of 90 years and older. Data on social and functional outcome after surviving CPR were scarce and contradictory. CONCLUSIONS: the chance of survival to hospital discharge for in-hospital CPR in older people is low to moderate (11.6-18.7%) and decreases with age. However, evidence about functional or social outcomes after surviving CPR is scarce. Prospective studies are needed to address this issue and to identify pre-arrest factors that can predict survival in the older people in order to define subgroups that could benefit from CPR.

Skeletal muscle capillary density and microvascular function are compromised with aging and type 2 diabetes.

Adequate muscle perfusion is required for the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass. Impairments in microvascular structure and/or function with aging and type 2 diabetes have been associated with the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass. Our objective was to compare muscle fiber type specific capillary density and endothelial function between healthy young men, healthy older men, and age-matched type 2 diabetes patients. Fifteen healthy young men (24 ± 1 yr), 15 healthy older men (70 ± 2 yr), and 15 age-matched type 2 diabetes patients (70 ± 1 yr) were selected to participate in the present study. Whole body insulin sensitivity, muscle fiber type specific capillary density, sublingual microvascular density, and dimension of the erythrocyte-perfused boundary region were assessed to evaluate the impact of aging and/or type 2 diabetes on microvascular structure and function. Whole body insulin sensitivity was significantly lower at a more advanced age, with lowest values reported in the type 2 diabetic patients. In line, skeletal muscle capillary contacts were much lower in the older and older type 2 diabetic patients when compared with the young. Sidestream darkfield imaging showed a significantly greater thickness of the erythrocyte perfused boundary region in the type 2 diabetic patients compared with the young. Skeletal muscle capillary density is reduced with aging and type 2 diabetes and accompanied by impairments in endothelial glycocalyx function, which is indicative of compromised vascular function.