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Background: There are few strategies for treating patients who have suffered cardiopulmonary arrest due to blunt trauma (BT-CPA). The aim of this population-based case series observational study was to clarify the outcome of BT-CPA patients treated with a standardized strategy that included an emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) under an emergency medical service (EMS) system with a rapid transportation system. Methods: The 477 BT-CPA registry data were augmented by a review of the detailed medical records in our emergency department (ED) and action reports in the prehospital EMS records. Results: Of those, 76% were witnessed and 20% were CPA after leaving the scene. In all, 18% of the patients went to the intensive care unit (ICU), the transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) room, or the operating room (OR). Only 3% survived to be discharged. Among the 363 witnessed patients-11 of whom had ventricular fibrillation (VF) as the initial rhythm, 134 exhibiting pulseless electrical activity (PEA), and 221 with asystole-13, 1, and 3%, respectively, survived to discharge. The most common initial rhythm just after collapse was not VF but PEA, and asystole increased over the 7 min after collapse. There were no differences in the interval between arrival at the hospital and the return of spontaneous circulation between the patients that survived to discharge and deceased patients in the ED, OR, TAE room, or ICU. The longest interval was 17 min. Conclusions: In BT-CPA patients, a 20-min resuscitation effort and termination of the effort are thought to be relevant. The initial rhythm is not a prognostic indicator. We believe that the decision on whether to undertake aggressive resuscitation efforts should be made on a case-by-case basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: A favorable neurological outcome is likely to be achieved in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients with ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VF/VT) on the initial electrocardiogram (ECG). However, in patients without pre-hospital restoration of spontaneous circulation despite the initial VF/VT, the outcome is extremely low by conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Extracorporeal CPR (ECPR) may enhance cerebral blood flow and recovery of neurological function. We prospectively examined how ECPR for OHCA with VF/VT would affect neurological outcomes. Methods and results: The design of this trial was a prospective, observational study. We compared differences of outcome at 1 and 6 months after OHCA between ECPR group (26 hospitals) and non-ECPR group (20 hospitals). Primary endpoints were the rate of favorable outcomes defined by the Glasgow-Pittsburgh Cerebral Performance and Overall Performance Categories (CPC) 1 or 2 at 1 and 6 months after OHCA. Based on intention-to-treat analysis, CPC 1 or 2 were 12.3% (32/260) in the ECPR group and 1.5% (3/194) in the non-ECPR group at 1 month (P <0.0001), and 11.2% (29/260) and 2.6% (5/194) at 6 months (P =0.001), respectively. By per protocol analysis, CPC 1 or 2 were 13.7% (32/234) in the ECPR group and 1.9% (3/159) in the non-ECPR group at 1 month (P <0.0001), and 12.4% (29/234) and 3.1% (5/159) at 6 months (P =0.002), respectively. Conclusions: In OHCA patients with VF/VT on the initial ECG, a treatment bundle including ECPR, therapeutic hypothermia and IABP was associated with improved neurological outcome at 1 and 6 months after OHCA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: To assess the role of percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) for the resuscitation of patients with massive pulmonary embolism (PE) with circulatory collapse. We also compared outcomes for PCPS between patients with massive PE with circulatory collapse and patients with AMI with cardiogenic shock. Background: The effectiveness of PCPS for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated with cardiogenic shock has been reported, but there are few reports on the use of PCPS for massive PE with circulatory collapse. Method: We studied 12 consecutive patients with massive PE and 16 patients with AMI, who required PCPS for resuscitation either during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or after successful CPR. Results: Twelve patients with PE and 16 patients with AMI were identified. There were no differences in age, the Acute Physiology, Age and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score at admission, rate of cardiac arrest on arrival, and time from first circulatory collapse to PCPS between the two groups. However, the proportion of men with PE (33%) was smaller than those with AMI (87%, p <0.05). The duration of PCPS was shorter in PE (38h) compared with AMI (83h, p =0.051) patients. The proportion of patients successfully weaned from PCPS (100% vs. 37.5%, p <0.01), survival rate at discharge (83.3% vs. 12.5%, p <0.001) and good neurological outcome (58.3% vs. 6.3%, p =0.004) was significantly higher for PE compared to AMI patients. Conclusion: In our small case series, percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) had a life saving role in patients with massive PE and cardiac arrest. PCPS was also more effective in patients with massive PE with cardiac arrest than in patients with AMI and cardiac arrest. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To identify an early, simple, noninvasive predictor of left main (LM) or 3-vessel disease (3-VD), we retrospectively studied clinical variables on admission in 310 patients with acute coronary syndromes with non–ST-segment elevation. Univariate analysis indicated that many factors were related to LM/3-VD. Multivariate analysis showed that ST-segment elevation in lead aVR of ≥0.5 mm was the strongest predictor of LM/3-VD, followed by positive troponin T (odds ratio 19.7, p &#60;0.001, and odds ratio 3.08, p = 0.048, respectively). ST-segment elevation in lead aVR of ≥0.5 mm and positive troponin T identified LM/3-VD with sensitivities of 78% and 62%, specificities of 86% and 59%, positive predictive values of 57% and 26%, and negative predictive values of 95% and 87%, respectively (p &#60;0.05). Our findings suggest that in patients with non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes, ST-segment elevation in lead aVR of ≥0.5 mm and positive troponin T on admission (especially the former) are useful predictors of LM/3-VD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: Bradycardia during therapeutic hypothermia has been reported to be a predictor of favorable neurologic outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. However, bradycardia occurrence rate may be influenced by the target body temperature. During therapeutic hypothermia, as part of the normal physiologic response, heart rate decreases in the cooling phase and increases during the rewarming phase. We hypothesized that increased heart rate during the rewarming phase is another predictor of favorable neurologic outcomes. To address this hypothesis, the study aimed to examine the association between heart rate response during the rewarming phase and neurologic outcomes in patients having return of spontaneous circulation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.Design: A secondary analysis of the Japanese Population-based Utstein style study with defibrillation and basic/advanced Life Support Education and implementation-Hypothermia registry, which was a multicenter prospective cohort study.Setting: Fourteen hospitals throughout Japan.Patients: Patients suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who received therapeutic hypothermia after the return of spontaneous circulation from 2005 to 2011.Intervention: None.Measurements and Main Results: This study enrolled 452 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients, of which 354 were analyzed, and 80.2% survived to hospital discharge, of which 57.3% had a good neurologic outcome. Heart rate response was calculated using heart rate data recorded during therapeutic hypothermia in the abovementioned registry. Heart rate response in the rewarming phase (heart rate response-rewarming) was calculated as follows: (heart rate [post rewarming]-heart rate [pre rewarming])/heart rate (pre rewarming) × 100. The primary outcome was an unfavorable neurologic outcome at hospital discharge, that is, a Cerebral Performance Category of 3-5. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between heart rate response-rewarming and unfavorable neurologic outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that heart rate response-rewarming was independently associated with unfavorable outcomes (odds ratio [per 10% change], 0.86; 95% CI, 0.78-0.96; p = 0.004).Conclusions: Increased heart rate in the approximately 48-hour rewarming phase during therapeutic hypothermia was significantly associated with and was an independent predictor of favorable neurologic outcomes during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]