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Background: Research on incidence and characteristics of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) in the Middle East is limited. We assessed the incidence, prehospital characteristics, and outcomes of OHCA in Qatar, a Middle Eastern country. Subsequently, we performed gender-specific analysis., Methods: This was a retrospective examination of data obtained from the OHCA registry at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Qatar from 2017 to 2022. We included adults, non-traumatic, EMS-treatment OHCA. We calculated the incidence of adult OHCA and conducted descriptive analyses for prehospital characteristics, and prehospital outcomes presented by return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). We evaluated gender differences in prehospital characteristics and ROSC using Student's t-test and the Chi-Square test as appropriate. Furthermore, we conducted a multivariable logistic regression analysis to investigate the correlation between gender and achieving ROSC., Results: We included 4,306 adult OHCA patients, with 869 (20.2%) being females. The mean annual incidence of adult OHCA was 27.4 per 100,000 population-year. Males had a higher annual incidence of OHCA than females. Among all cases, 36.3% occurred in a public location, 25.8% had an initial shockable rhythm, and 28.8% achieved ROSC. Males had a higher proportion of bystander CPR, arrests in public locations, and initial shockable rhythms. While unadjusted analysis showed no significant gender differences in achieving ROSC, adjusted analysis revealed that male gender was associated with higher odds of achieving ROSC (adjusted OR male vs. female 1.38, 95% CI 1.15-1.66, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Approximately 720 adults undergo non-traumatic OHCA in Qatar every year, with a higher incidence observed in males. Male gender was associated with higher odds of achieving ROSC. Further gender-specific research in OHCA intervention and outcome in the Middle East is required., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a life-threatening condition characterized by the weakening and dilation of the abdominal aorta. AAA primarily affects men, smokers, and the elderly, with rupture being a fatal complication. While point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is valuable in diagnosing AAA, the role of using pocket-sized ultrasound in a low resource setting remains less explored. This case report presents a unique instance of a suspected ruptured AAA diagnosed using pocket-sized ultrasound in an emergency department (ED) situated in a low resource setting where ultrasound machines are absent, and emergency physicians lack proficiency in ultrasound usage., Case Presentation: A 78-year-old man with a history of hypertension and bladder cancer presented to the ED with suprapubic pain. Initial evaluation showed no concerning findings. However, the next day, he collapsed, became unconscious, and experienced a cardiac arrest. Despite resuscitation efforts, the patient's condition deteriorated. POCUS revealed an 8-cm dilated abdominal aorta with an intimal flap, indicative of a dissecting AAA and a substrate for AAA rupture. Unfortunately, the patient died despite resuscitation efforts., Conclusion: This case highlights the importance of considering AAA in patients with risk factors and abdominal pain in a low resource setting. POCUS using a pocket-sized ultrasound can aid in early AAA detection, potentially preventing rupture through preemptive vascular intervention. Emergency departments should prioritize ultrasound availability, and emergency physicians should be proficient in its use., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Previous studies conducted in North America, Europe, and East Asia (Liu et al., EClinicalMedicine 44:101293, 2022; Matsui et al., JAMA Netw Open 2:e195111, 2019; Awad et al., J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open 4:e12957, 2023; Yoon et al., Prehosp Emerg Care :1-7, 2022) reported gender disparities in the provision of bystander CPR for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). However, it remains unknown whether similar disparities exist in the Middle Eastern and Gulf regions. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate gender differences in the provision of bystander CPR for patients with OHCA in Qatar., Methods: Retrospective analysis of data obtained from Hamad Medical Corporation OHCA registry in the State of Qatar (2016-2022). We included adults with non-traumatic and EMS-attended OHCA. We used multilevel logistic regression to examine the association between gender and provision of bystander CPR., Results: In total, 4283 patients were included. Of those, 3414 (79.7%) were males, 1639 (38.3%) arrested in public locations, and 1463 (34.2%) received bystander CPR. Unadjusted comparisons showed that females were significantly older than males (mean age: 62.2 vs. 52.7). Females had a lower proportion of OHCA occurring in public locations (15.1% vs. 44.2%) and a lower proportion of shockable rhythm (11.9 vs. 27.5%). Regarding the outcome variable (provision of bystander CPR), the unadjusted analysis showed that the proportion of females who received bystander CPR was lower than that of males (29.2% vs. 35.4%, p < 0.001). However, after adjustment, we found no significant difference in provision of bystander CPR by gender (adjusted OR female vs. male 0.99, 95% CI 0.84-1.20, p = 0.97). In the subgroup who arrested in public locations, the analysis revealed females had greater odds of receiving bystander CPR (adjusted OR female vs. male 1.47, 95% CI 1.10-1.82, p = 0.04)., Conclusions: Overall, bystander CPR was less common in female gender; after adjustment for other covariates, including arrest location, we found no significant gender differences in provision of bystander CPR. We also observed that females were found to have a lower incidence of cardiac arrest in public locations. Nevertheless, if females were to experience cardiac arrest in a public location, they would be more likely to receive CPR. Further research is required to explain the observed differences in provision of bystander CPR., (© 2023. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)