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BackgroundCurrently, there is no consensus on the number of defibrillation attempts that should be made before transfer to a hospital in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). This study aimed to evaluate the association between the number of defibrillations and a sustained prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).MethodsA retrospective analysis of a multicentre, prospectively collected, registry-based study in Republic of Korea was conducted for OHCA patients with prehospital defibrillation. The primary outcome was sustained prehospital ROSC, and the secondary outcome was a good neurological outcome at hospital discharge, defined as Cerebral Performance Category score 1 or 2. Cumulative incidence of sustained prehospital ROSC and good neurological outcome according to number of defibrillations were examined. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine whether the number of defibrillations was independently associated with the outcomes.ResultsExcluding 172 patients with missing data, a total of 1983 OHCA patients who received prehospital defibrillation were included. The median time from arrest to first defibrillation was 10 (IQR 7–15) min. The numbers of patients with sustained prehospital ROSC and good neurological outcome were 738 (37%) and 549 (28%), respectively. Sustained ROSC rates decreased as the number of defibrillation attempts increased from the first to the sixth (16%, 9%, 5%, 3%, 2% and 1%, respectively). The cumulative sustained ROSC rate, and good neurological outcome rate from initial defibrillation to sixth defibrillation were 16%, 25%, 30%, 34%, 36%, 36% and 11%, 18%, 22%, 25%, 26%, 27%, respectively. With adjustment for clinical characteristics and time to defibrillation, a higher number of defibrillations was independently associated with a lower chance of a sustained ROSC (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.86) and a lower chance of good neurological outcome (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.92).ConclusionsWe observed no significant increase in ROSC after five defibrillations, and no absolute increase in ROSC after seven defibrillations. These data provide a starting point for determination of the optimal defibrillation strategy prior to consideration for prehospital extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) or conveyance to a hospital with an ECPR capability.Trial registration numberNCT03222999

Acute traumatic aortic injuries, which have substantial lethal outcomes at the time of admission, are fatal in 80% to 90% of cases. These injuries are relatively rare and have nonspecific clinical presentations. Radiologists and emergency physicians need to identify the radiological signs of acute traumatic aortic injury and differentiate them from common imaging errors to ensure accurate diagnosis and determine appropriate management protocols. In combination with image-guided interventions, advances in cross-sectional imaging have enabled nonsurgical management of acute traumatic aortic injuries. Timely and precise diagnoses of these injuries following prompt treatment are essential as up to 90% of patients presenting at the hospital can undergo early repair.

In Korea, the national evaluation program for emergency medical centers (EMCs) was introduced in 2003. EMCs in Korea have three levels of emergency centers including regional emergency centers, local emergency centers, and local emergency rooms. The evaluation system assesses the performance of EMCs at all three levels. The role of both regional emergency centers and local emergency centers administer the final treatment for severe emergency patients, although the definition of severe emergency patients is unclear. These factors may aggravate crowding at the emergency department. The national evaluation system aims to reduce the length of stay in the emergency department. However, reduction of the length of stay at emergency department may cause a conflict with the administration of final treatment for critically ill emergency patients owing to a lack of in-hospital beds. Crowding of the emergency department is not a problem of EMCs but that of the health system. In 2019, the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine performed a study to improve the national evaluation program for EMC and the performance of EMC. Here, we have summarized the results.

The utilization of the emergency department (ED) has been continuously increasing and has become a burden for ED resources. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics, outcomes, common diagnoses, and disease classifications of patients who were referred to the ED. This nationwide epidemiologic study examined the data from adult patients (>18 years) who visited EDs from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2018. Most EDs in Korea provide data from ED patients to the National Emergency Medical Center (NEMC). The disposition of ED patients was classified as discharge, admission, death, and re-transfer. From 2016 to 2018, the proportion of referred patients out of the total ED visits increased from 7.3% to 7.8%. The referred patients were older (61.1 vs. 50.5 years), had worse vital signs, longer ED lengths of stay (409.1 vs. 153.3 min), and higher admission (62.3 vs. 16.9%) and re-transfer rates (4.4 vs. 1.9%) than the direct-visit patients. Among the referred patients in the 3 years, 62.3% were hospitalized, and the most common disease classification was “disease of the digestive system” (19.8%). The most common diagnosis was pneumonia (6.0%), followed by urinary tract infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, and hepatobiliary infection. The number of patients referred to EDs is increasing, and more than 60% of referred patients are hospitalized. Detailed characteristics of these patients will be helpful for improving ED management and the distribution of medical resources.

Background An accurate disease severity score that can quickly predict the prognosis of patients with sepsis in the emergency department (ED) can aid clinicians in distributing resources appropriately or making decisions for active resuscitation measures. This study aimed to compare the prognostic performance of quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) with that of other disease severity scores in patients with septic shock presenting to an ED. Methods We performed a prospective, observational, registry-based study. The discriminative ability of each disease severity score to predict 28-day mortality was evaluated in the overall cohort (which included patients who fulfilled previously defined criteria for septic shock), the newly defined sepsis subgroup, and the newly defined septic shock subgroup. Results A total of 991 patients were included. All disease severity scores had poor discriminative ability for 28-day mortality. The sequential organ failure assessment and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II scores had the highest area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) values, which were significantly higher than the AUC values of other disease severity scores in the overall cohort and the sepsis and septic shock subgroups. The discriminative ability of each disease severity score decreased as the mortality rate of each subgroup increased. Conclusions All disease severity scores, including qSOFA, did not display good discrimination for 28-day mortality in patients with serious infection and refractory hypotension or hypoperfusion; additionally, none of the included scoring tools in this study could consistently predict 28-day mortality in the newly defined sepsis and septic shock subgroups.

Background: The objectives of this study were to 1) identify the risk factors for predicting re-arrest and 2) determine whether extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation results in better outcomes than conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation for managing re-arrest in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. Methods: This retrospective analysis was based on a prospective cohort. We included adult patients with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who achieved a survival event. The primary measurement was re-arrest, defined as recurrent cardiac arrest within 24 hours after survival event. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to predict re-arrest. Subgroup analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the survival to discharge in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who experienced re-arrest. Results: Of 534 patients suitable for inclusion, 203 (38.0%) were enrolled in the re-arrest group. Old age, prolonged advanced cardiac life support duration and the presence of hypotension at 0 hours after survival event were independent variables predicting re-arrest. In the re-arrest group, the extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation group (n = 25) showed better outcomes than the conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation group. However, multiple logistic regression for predicting survival to discharge revealed that extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation was not an independent factor. Multiple logistic regression revealed that a hypotensive state at re-arrest was an independent risk factor for survival. Conclusion: Alternative methods that reduce the advanced cardiac life support duration should be considered to prevent re-arrest and attain good outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for re-arrest tended to show a good outcome compared to conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation for re-arrest. Avoiding or immediately correcting hypotension may prevent re-arrest and improve the outcome of re-arrested patients.

Background: Nighttime hospital admission is often associated with increased mortality risk in various diseases. Following sepsis campaign implementation, this study investigated compliance rates with the Surviving Sepsis Campaign 3-h bundle for daytime and nighttime emergency department (ED) admissions and the clinical impact of compliance on mortality. Methods: We conducted an observational study using data from a prospective, multicenter registry for septic shock provided by the Korean Shock Society from 11 institutions from November 2015 to December 2017. The outcome was the compliance rate with the complete 3-hour treatment bundle according to the time of arrival in the ED. Mediation analysis was conducted to evaluate the proportion of the total effect that could be explained by hospital admission times.Results: A total of 2,247 patients were enrolled. Compared with daytime admission, nighttime admission was associated with higher compliance for the administration of antibiotics within 3-h (adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 1.276; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.050–1.550, p=0.014), vasopressor within 3-h (AOR, 1.235; 95% CI, 1.009–1.512; P=0.031) and for the administration of the complete 3-h bundle (AOR, 1.231; 95% CI, 1.004–1.501; P=0.046), likely as a result of the increased volume of patients admitted during daytime hours. Consequently, daytime hospital admission adversely affected in-hospital and 28-day mortality rates, mediated by decreased compliance with the complete 3-h bundle. Conclusions: Septic shock patients admitted to the ED during the daytime exhibited lower sepsis bundle compliance than those admitted at night. Despite sepsis campaign implementation, factors that decrease bundle compliance should be reconsidered in patients with septic shock.

Background Nighttime hospital admission is often associated with increased mortality risk in various diseases. This study investigated compliance rates with the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) 3-h bundle for daytime and nighttime emergency department (ED) admissions and the clinical impact of compliance on mortality in patients with septic shock. Methods We conducted an observational study using data from a prospective, multicenter registry for septic shock provided by the Korean Shock Society from 11 institutions from November 2015 to December 2017. The outcome was the compliance rate with the SSC 3-h bundle according to the time of arrival in the ED. Results A total of 2049 patients were enrolled. Compared with daytime admission, nighttime admission was associated with higher compliance with the administration of antibiotics within 3 h (adjusted odds ratio (adjOR), 1.326; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.088–1.617, p = 0.005) and with the complete SSC bundle (adjOR, 1.368; 95% CI, 1.115–1.678; p = 0.003), likely to result from the increased volume of all patients and sepsis patients admitted during daytime hours. The hazard ratios of the completion of SSC bundle for 28-day mortality and in-hospital mortality were 0.750 (95% CI 0.590–0.952, p = 0.018) and 0.714 (95% CI 0.564–0.904, p = 0.005), respectively. Conclusion Septic shock patients admitted to the ED during the daytime exhibited lower sepsis bundle compliance than those admitted at night. Both the higher number of admitted patients and the higher patients to medical staff ratio during daytime may be factors that are responsible for lowering the compliance.

(1) Background: The emergency department provides lifesaving treatment and has become an entry point to hospital admission. The purpose of our study was to describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients who were admitted through the emergency department to the intensive care unit or general ward. (2) Methods: We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive analysis using the National Emergency Department Information System, analyzing patient data including disease category, diagnosis, and mortality from 1 January 2016, to 31 December 2018. (3) Results: During the study period, about 13.6% were admitted through the emergency department. Of these, the overall in-hospital mortality was 4.6%. The frequent disease class for the intensive care unit admissions was the cardiovascular system, and the classes for the general ward admissions were as follows: injury and toxicology, digestive system, and respiratory system. Cardiovascular system-related emergencies were the predominant cause of death among patients admitted to the intensive care unit, however, oncologic complications were the leading cause of death in the general ward. (4) Conclusions: Emergency departments are incrementally utilized as the entry point for hospital admission. Health care providers need to understand emergency department admission epidemiology and prepare for managing patients with certain common diagnoses.

Background Survival and post-cardiac arrest care vary considerably by hospital, region, and country. In the current study, we aimed to analyze mortality in patients who underwent cardiac arrest by hospital level, and to reveal differences in patient characteristics and hospital factors, including post-cardiac arrest care, hospital costs, and adherence to changes in resuscitation guidelines. Methods We enrolled adult patients (≥ 20 years) who suffered non-traumatic cardiac arrest from 2006 to 2015. Patient demographics, insurance type, admission route, comorbidities, treatments, and hospital costs were extracted from the National Health Insurance Service database. We categorized patients into tertiary hospital, general hospital, and hospital groups according to the level of the hospital where they were treated. We analyzed the patients' characteristics, hospital factors, and mortalities among the three groups. We also analyzed post-cardiac arrest care before and after the 2010 guideline changes. The primary end-point was 30 days and 1 year mortality rates. Results The tertiary hospital, general hospital, and hospital groups represented 32.6%, 49.6%, and 17.8% of 337,042 patients, respectively. The tertiary and general hospital groups were younger, had a lower proportion of medical aid coverage, and fewer comorbidities, compared to the hospital group. Post-cardiac arrest care, such as percutaneous coronary intervention, targeted temperature management, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, were provided more frequently in the tertiary and general hospital groups. After adjusting for age, sex, insurance type, urbanization level, admission route, comorbidities, defibrillation, resuscitation medications, angiography, and guideline changes, the tertiary and general hospital groups showed lower 1-year mortality (tertiary hospital vs. general hospital vs. hospital, adjusted odds ratios, 0.538 vs. 0.604 vs. 1; P < 0.001). After 2010 guideline changes, a marked decline in atropine use and an increase in post-cardiac arrest care were observed in the tertiary and general hospital groups. Conclusion The tertiary and general hospital groups showed lower 30 days and 1 year mortality rates than the hospital group, after adjusting for patient characteristics and hospital factors. Higher-level hospitals provided more post-cardiac arrest care, which led to high hospital costs, and showed good adherence to the guideline change after 2010., Graphical Abstract

Objectives: We intended to determine the association between hospital-level and mortality, and reveal differences in patient characteristics and potential resource utilization using the National health Insurance Service database. Methods: We selected adult patients (>20 years old) with non-traumatic cardiac arrest from 2006 to 2015 using the national database. The patients were categorized into ‘Tertiary’, ‘Secondary’ and ‘Primary’ groups by the level of hospital where they were treated. Demographics, insurance type, urbanization level, previous disease, medical therapies and hospital costs were analyzed among the groups. Primary end-points were mortality rate within 30 days, 6 months and 1 year. Multiple logistic regression analysis was utilized for determining the association between hospital-level and mortality (SAS ver 9.4). Results: Tertiary, Secondary and Primary groups accounted for 32.6%, 49.6% and 17.8% of total 337,042 patients. Tertiary and Secondary groups showed the higher proportion of younger age, male patients, coverage by national health insurance, urban residents and lower Charlson Comorbidity Index than Primary group. After adjusting characteristics and pre-existing diseases in multiple logistic regression analysis, the higher hospital level was negatively associated with mortality (Adjusted Odds ratio[aOR]: 0.372 and 0.419 at 30-days, aOR: 0.504 and 0.568 at 6-months, aOR: 0.538 and 0.604 at 1-year in Tertiary and Secondary groups). Advanced treatments like PCI, CABG, ECMO, EEG and therapeutic hypothermia were provided more in the higher level hospital. With regard to guideline change in 2010, there was a downturn in use of atropine and an increment in post-resuscitation care treatments in Tertiary and Secondary groups. Conclusions: Significant variability in cardiac arrest mortality exists across hospital levels, and this variation persists despite adjustment for measured patient factors. These findings suggest that higher level hospital provided more advanced procedures and post-resuscitation care, which leaded to higher hospital cost especially in acute period, and showed good adherence to guideline updates. (NRF-2017R1A2B100 5037)

Background: Early defibrillation is vital to improve outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with shockable rhythm. Currently, there is no agreed consensus on the number of defibrillation attempts before transfer to a hospital. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between the number of defibrillations on the prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).Methods: A multicenter, prospective, observational registry-based study was conducted for OHCA in patients with presumed cardiac etiology that underwent prehospital defibrillation between October 2015 and June 2017. The primary outcome was prehospital ROSC, and the secondary outcome was a good neurologic outcome at hospital discharge, defined as Cerebral Performance Category score 1 or 2. Results: Among 2,155 OHCA patients’ data, 178 patients with missing data were excluded, a total of 1,983 OHCA patients who received prehospital defibrillation were included. The median age was 61 years and prehospital ROSC was observed in 738 patients (37.2%). The median time from arrest to first defibrillation was 10 (interquartile range: 7-15) minutes. The cumulative ROSC rates and good neurologic outcome from the initial defibrillation to the sixth defibrillation were 43%, 68%, 81%, 90%, 95%, 98% and 42%, 66%, 81%, 90%, 95%, 98%, respectively. After clinical characteristics adjustment and time to defibrillation, the number of defibrillations were independently associated with ROSC (odds ratio 0.81 95% CI 0.76-0.86) and good neurologic outcome (odds ratio 0.86 95% CI 0.80-0.91). Moreover, subgroup analysis results with patients that underwent the initial defibrillation within 10 minutes from arrest were consistent (95% up to five times).Conclusion: More than 95% of prehospital ROSC was achieved within five times of defibrillation in OHCA patients. This result provides a basis for the ideal number of defibrillation attempts before transfer to hospital with the possibility of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation in these refractory ventricular fibrillation patients.

We attempted to determine the impact of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) on short-term and long-term outcomes and find potential resource utilization differences between the ECMO and non-ECMO groups, using the National Health Insurance Service database. We selected adult patients (&ge, 20 years old) with non-traumatic cardiac arrest from 2007 to 2015. Data on age, sex, insurance status, hospital volume, residential area urbanization, and pre-existing diseases were extracted from the database. A total of 1.5% (n = 3859) of 253,806 patients were categorized into the ECMO group. The ECMO-supported patients were more likely to be younger, men, more covered by national health insurance, and showed, higher usage of tertiary level and large volume hospitals, and a lower rate of pre-existing comorbidities, compared to the non-ECMO group. After propensity score-matching demographic data, hospital factors, and pre-existing diseases, the odds ratio (ORs) of the ECMO group were 0.76 (confidence interval, (CI) 0.68&ndash, 0.85) for 30-day mortality and 0.66 (CI 0.58&ndash, 0.79) for 1-year mortality using logistic regression. The index hospitalization was longer, and the 30-day and 1-year hospital costs were greater in the matched ECMO group. Although ECMO support needed longer hospitalization days and higher hospital costs, the ECMO support reduced the risk of 30-day and 1-year mortality compared to the non-ECMO patients.

Objective: This study aimed to develop a scoring system for predicting the in-hospital mortality of acute poisoning patients at the emergency department (ED). Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of the Injury Surveillance Cohort generated by the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) from 2011–2018. We developed the new-Poisoning Mortality Scoring system (new-PMS) to generate a prediction model using the derivation group (2011–2017 KCDC cohort). Points were computed for each category of each variable. The sum of these points was the new-PMS. The validation group (2018 KCDC cohort) was subjected to external temporal validation. The performance of new-PMS in predicting mortality was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for both groups. For simple interpretation in clinical settings, risk groups were categorized as very low, low, intermediate, and high according to the new-PMS; we suggested the mortality curve according to new-PMS. Results: Of 57326 poisoning cases, 42568 were selected. Of these, 34352 (80.7%) and 8216 (19.3%) were enrolled in the derivation and validation groups, respectively. New-PMS was the sum of points for each category of 10 predictors. The range of new-PMS was -20 to 3420 points. The area under the ROC curve of new-PMS was 0.942 (95% CI: 0.934–0.949) and 0.946 (95% CI: 0.930–0.963) for the derivation and validation groups, respectively. The mean predicted mortality and the observed mortalities of the high-risk group (new-PMS ≥1048) were 9.7% (95% CI: 9.3 – 10.0) and 10.0% for the derivation group and 8.4% (95% CI: 7.7 – 9.1) and 7.4% for the validation groups, respectively. Conclusions: New-PMS showed good performance in predicting in-hospital mortality for both groups. As mortality sharply increased with the high risk-group of the new-PMS, early hemodynamic stabilization of acute poisoning patients at the ED may improve their clinical outcomes. New-PMS contributes to clinical decision-making for acute poisoning patients in clinical settings.

We investigated the association between post-rewarming fever (PRF) and 6-month neurologic outcomes in cardiac arrest survivors. This was a multicenter study based on a registry of comatose adult (&ge, 18 years) out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors who underwent targeted temperature management between October 2015 to December 2018. PRF was defined as peak temperature &ge, 38.0 &deg, C within 72 h after completion of rewarming, and PRF timing was categorized as within 24, 24&ndash, 48, and 48&ndash, 72 h epochs. The primary outcome was neurologic outcomes at six months after cardiac arrest. Unfavorable neurologic outcome was defined as cerebral performance categories three to five. A total of 1031 patients were included, and 642 (62.3%) had unfavorable neurologic outcomes. PRF developed in 389 (37.7%) patients in 72 h after rewarming: within 24 h in 150 (38.6%), in 24&ndash, 48 h in 155 (39.8%), and in 48&ndash, 72 h in 84 (21.6%). PRF was associated with improved neurologic outcomes (odds ratio (OR), 0.633, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.416&ndash, 0.963). PRF within 24 h (OR, 0.355, 95% CI, 0.191&ndash, 0.659), but not in 24&ndash, 48 h or 48&ndash, 72 h, was associated with unfavorable neurologic outcomes. Early PRF within 24 h after rewarming was associated with favorable neurologic outcomes.

Objective With trends in population aging an increasing number of older patients are visiting the emergency department (ED). This study aimed to identify the characteristics of ED utilization and risk factors for in-hospital mortality in older patients who visited EDs. Methods This nationwide observational study used National Emergency Department Information System data collected during a 2-year period from January 2016 to December 2017. The characteristics of older patients aged 70 years or older were compared with those of younger patients aged 20 to 69 years. Risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality were analyzed by multivariable logistic regression. Results A total of 6,596,423 younger patients and 1,737,799 older patients were included. In the medical and nonmedical older patient groups, significantly higher proportions of patients were transferred from another hospital, utilized emergency medical services, had Korean Triage and Acuity Scale scores of 1 and 2, required hospitalization, and required intensive care unit admission in the older patient group than in the younger patient group. ED and post-hospitalization mortality rates increased with age; in particular, older medical patients aged 90 or older had an in-hospital mortality rate of 9%. Older age, male sex, transfer from another hospital, emergency medical service utilization, a high Korean Triage and Acuity Scale score, systolic blood pressure 20/min, heart rate >100/min, body temperature

This study was to determine whether prolonged emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) is associated with increased risk of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA). A retrospective cohort with a nationwide database of all adult patients who visited the EDs in South Korea between January 2016 and December 2017 was performed. A total of 18,217,034 patients visited an ED during the study period. The median ED LOS was 2.5 h. IHCA occurred in 9,180 patients (0.2%). IHCA was associated with longer ED LOS (4.2 vs. 2.5 h), and higher rates of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (58.6% vs. 4.7%) and in-hospital mortality (35.7% vs. 1.5%). The ED LOS correlated positively with the development of IHCA (Spearman &rho, = 0.91, p &lt, 0.01) and was an independent risk factor for IHCA (odds ratio (OR) 1.10, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.10&ndash, 1.10). The development of IHCA increased in a stepwise fashion across increasing quartiles of ED LOS, with ORs for the second, third, and fourth relative to the first being 3.35 (95% CI, 3.26&ndash, 3.44), 3.974 (95% CI, 3.89&ndash, 4.06), and 4.97 (95% CI, 4.89&ndash, 5.05), respectively. ED LOS should be reduced to prevent adverse events in patients visiting the ED.

ObjectivesHyperchloraemia is associated with poor clinical outcomes in sepsis patients; however, this association is not well studied for hypochloraemia. We investigated the prevalence of chloride imbalance and the association between hypochloraemia and 28-day mortality in ED patients with septic shock.MethodsA retrospective analysis of data from 11 multicentre EDs in the Republic of Korea prospectively collected from October 2015 to April 2018 was performed. Initial chloride levels were categorised as hypochloraemia, normochloraemia and hyperchloraemia, according to sodium chloride difference adjusted criteria. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. A multivariate logistic regression model adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, acid-base state, sepsis-related organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, lactate and albumin level was used to test the association between the three chloride categories and 28-day mortality.ResultsAmong 2037 enrolled patients, 394 (19.3%), 1582 (77.7%) and 61 (3.0%) patients had hypochloraemia, normochloraemia and hyperchloraemia, respectively. The unadjusted 28-day mortality rate in patients with hypochloraemia was 27.4% (95% CI, 23.1% to 32.1%), which was higher than in patients with normochloraemia (19.7%; 95% CI, 17.8% to 21.8%). Hypochloraemia was associated with an increase in the risk of 28-day mortality (adjusted OR (aOR), 1.36, 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.83) after adjusting for confounders. However, hyperchloraemia was not associated with 28-day mortality (aOR 1.35, 95% CI, 0.82 to 2.24).ConclusionHypochloraemia was more frequently observed than hyperchloraemia in ED patients with septic shock and it was associated with 28-day mortality.

In patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with an initial non-shockable rhythm, the prognostic significance of conversion to a shockable rhythm (or hereafter &ldquo, conversion&rdquo, ) during resuscitation remains unclear. We investigated whether conversion is associated with good neurologic outcome. We included patients with OHCA with medical causes and an initial non-shockable rhythm by using the national OHCA surveillance cohort database of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2012~2016. The primary outcome was good neurologic outcome at hospital discharge. Of 85,602 patients with an initial non-shockable rhythm, 17.9% experienced conversion. Patients with and those without conversion had good neurologic outcome rates of 3.2% and 1.0%, respectively (p &lt, 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, conversion was associated with good neurologic outcome (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.604, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.248&ndash, 3.015) in the patients with an initial non-shockable rhythm, and had the association with good neurologic outcome (adjusted OR 3.972, 95% CI 3.167&ndash, 4.983) in unwitnessed patients by emergency medical services (EMS) without pre-hospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) among the population. In patients with OHCA with an initial non-shockable rhythm, even if with unwitnessed arrest by EMS and no pre-hospital ROSC, continuing resuscitation needs to be considered if conversion to a shockable rhythm occurred.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and their combination for mortality in patients with septic shock. This multicenter, prospective, observational study was conducted between November 2015 and December 2017. A total of 1,772 septic shock patients were included, and the overall 28-day mortality was 20.7%. Although both CRP and PCT were elevated in the non-survivor group, only CRP had statistical significance (11.9 mg/dL vs. 14.7 mg/dL, p = 0.003, 6.4 ng/mL vs. 8.2 ng/mL, p = 0.508). Multivariate analysis showed that CRP and PCT were not independent prognostic markers. In the subgroup analysis of the CRP and PCT combination matrix using their optimal cut-off values (CRP 14.0 mg/dL, PCT 17.0 ng/dL), both CRP and PCT elevated showed significantly higher mortality (Odds ratio 1.552 [95% Confidence intervals 1.184–2.035]) than both CRP and PCT not elevated (p = 0.001) and only PCT elevated (p = 0.007). However, both CRP and PCT elevated was also not an independent predictor in multivariate analysis. Initial levels of CRP and PCT alone and their combinations in septic shock patients had a limitation to predict 28-day mortality. Future research is needed to determine new biomarkers for early prognostication in patients with septic shock.

A life-threatening cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)-related injury can cause recurrent arrest after return of circulation. Such injuries are difficult to identify during resuscitation, and their contribution to failed resuscitation can be missed given the limitations of conventional CPR. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR), increasingly being considered for selected patients with potentially reversible etiology of arrest, may identify previously occult CPR-related injuries by restoring arterial pressure and flow. Herein, we describe two cases of severe CPR-related injuries contributing to recurrent arrest. Each case had ECPR implemented within 60 minutes of the start of CPR. After the presumed cardiac etiology had been addressed with percutaneous coronary intervention, life-threatening cardiovascular injuries with recurrent arrest were noted, and resuscitative thoracotomy was performed under ECPR. One patient survived to hospital discharge.ECPR may provide an opportunity to identify and correct severe resuscitation-related injuries causing recurrent arrest. Chest compression depth >6 cm, especially in older women, may contribute to these injuries.

Current guidelines recommend that rapid source control should be adopted in patients not6-12 h after sepsis is diagnosed. However, evidence level of this guideline is not specified, and there is no previous study on patients with septic shock visiting the emergency department (ED). Therefore, we aimed to assess the impact of rapid source control in patients with septic shock visiting the ED.In a prospective, observational, multicenter, registry-based study in 11 EDs, Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the independent effect of source control and time to source control on 28-day mortality.Cox proportional hazard models revealed that 28-day mortality was significantly lower in patients who underwent source control (HR 0.538 (0.389-0.744), p .001). However, no significant association between the performance of source control after 6 h or 12 h from enrollment and 28-day mortality was noted.Patients with septic shock visiting the ED who underwent source control showed better outcomes than those who did not. We failed to demonstrate the performance of rapid source control reduced the 28-day mortality in septic shock patients. Further studies are required to determine the impact of rapid source control in sepsis and septic shock.

Current sepsis guidelines recommend administration of antibiotics within 1 hour of emergency department (ED) triage. However, the quality of the supporting evidence is moderate, and studies have shown mixed results regarding the association between antibiotic administration timing and outcomes in septic shock. We investigated to evaluate the association between antibiotic administration timing and in-hospital mortality in septic shock patients in the ED, using propensity score analysis.An observational study using a prospective, multicenter registry of septic shock, comprising data collected from 10 EDs, was conducted. Septic shock patients were included, and patients were divided into 4 groups by the interval from triage to first antibiotic administration: group 1 (≤1 hour; reference), 2 (1-2 hours), 3 (2-3 hours), and 4 (3 hours). The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality. After inverse probability of treatment weighting, the outcomes of the groups were compared.A total of 2250 septic shock patients were included, and the median time to first antibiotic administration was 2.29 hours. The in-hospital mortality of groups 2 and 4 were significantly higher than those of group 1 (odds ratio [OR] 1.248; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.053-1.478; P = .011; OR 1.419; 95% CI, 1.203-1.675; P.001, respectively), but those of group 3 was not (OR 1.186; 95% CI, 0.999-1.408; P = .052). Subgroup analyses of patients (n = 2043) with appropriate antibiotics presented similar results.In patients with septic shock, rapid administration of antibiotics was generally associated with a decrease in in-hospital mortality, but no "every hour delay" was seen.

Objective Conversion to shockable rhythm from an initial non-shockable rhythm is associated with good neurologic prognoses in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We aimed to investigate whether conversion to shockable rhythm has an association with good neurologic outcomes, according to the etiology of cardiac arrest. Methods We conducted a nationwide, population-based, cohort study using the OHCA data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database in 2012–2016. We included patients with OHCA and an initial non-shockable rhythm. The primary outcome was good neurologic outcome at discharge, etiologies of arrest were categorized to medical, non-medical cause. We analyzed the effect of conversion to a shockable rhythm on outcome according to causes of cardiac arrest using multiple regression analysis. Results Of 114,628 patients with an initial non-shockable rhythm, 25,042 (21.8%) experienced conversion to a shockable rhythm; 83,437 (72.8%) had medical causes and 31,191(27.2%) had non-medical causes. In all patients with OHCA and initial non-shockable rhythm, adjusted odds ratio (OR) of conversion for good neurologic outcome was 2.051 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.181–2.297). The medical cause group showed an adjusted OR 1.789 (95% CI 1.586–2.019) of conversion for good neurologic outcome. In non-medical cause group, the adjusted OR of conversion was 0.644 (95% CI 0.372–1.114). Conclusion Conversion to shockable rhythm had an association with good neurologic outcome in patients with OHCA with initial non-shockable rhythms, especially due to cardiac cause. However, rhythm conversion was not associated with better outcome in patients with non-medical causes.

Introduction: There are a few reports on including socio-economic characteristics of the patients with cardiac arrest over a long period. We intended to analyze discrepancy of pre-existing condition, medical services and find the influencing factors on long-term outcome in cardiac arrest using National health Insurance Service (NHIS) database. Methods: The patients (≥20 yrs) with claim with cardiac arrest event from 2004-2015 were included. The variables including demographics, insurance type, location of residence, pre-existing disease, medical expenses were defined from the raw data of NHIS database. Death within 30 days, 6 months, and 1 year were endpoints. The variables and endpoints were compared according to the type of insurance. The influencing factors and prediction model were analyzed and developed. The t-test, ANOVA, chi-square, logistic regression with generalized estimating equations methods were used (SAS ver 9.4, R software). Results: Health insurance group and medical aid group accounted for 86.7% and 13.3 % of total 488,129 patients. Medical aid group showed higher rate of middle-aged, pre-existing disease, residence in rural area, use of a low level hospital and longer hospitalization days. The mortality rate within 30 days, 6 months and 1 year was higher as 84.9%, 92.9% and 94%, respectively in medical aid group than in health insurance group. Short-term medical expense per 1-year survivor in medical aid group was lower as $5,896, compared with $7,088 in health insurance group and long-term expense was $23,735 in medical aid group compared with $26,524. Age, male, admission through emergency room, high comorbidity index were the prognostic factors for poor outcome. Coverage by health insurance program, care in higher level hospital, ischemic heart disease, arrhythmia and defibrillation were the prognostic factors for survival. The c-statics for 30-days, 6-months, and 1-year mortality were 0.643, 0.679, and 0.687. Conclusion: There are disparities related to demographic data, pre-existing desased, type of medical institute used and clinical outcome. Insurance type, level of medical institute, urbanization level of residence were shown as the influencing factors for short-term and long-term outcome. (NRF-2017R1A2B1005037)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of the lactate/albumin (L/A) ratio as a predictive factor of 28-day mortality in critically ill sepsis patients.This is a retrospective observational study from a prospectively collected multicenter registry of 10 emergency departments (EDs) in teaching hospitals that participated in the Korean Shock Society. It enrolled patients who were 19 years of age or older who had a suspected or confirmed infection and evidence of refractory hypotension or hypoperfusion. The prognostic performance of the L/A ratio and lactate level for predicting 28-day mortality was assessed. Lactate and albumin levels were measured immediately after ED arrival.A total of 946 patients were included, with 22.5% overall 28-day mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) value of the L/A ratio (0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.64-0.73, P 0.01) was higher than that of lactate (0.65, 95% CI 0.61-0.70, P 0.01) for predicting 28-day mortality. The optimal cutoff of the L/A ratio was 1.32. The AUROC value of the L/A ratio was better than that of lactate regardless of lactate level (normal [2.0 mmol/L]: 0.68 vs. 0.55; intermediate [≥2.0, 4.0 mmol/L]: 0.65 vs. 0.50; high [≥4.0 mmol/L]: 0.66 vs. 0.62). In the subgroup with decreased lactate elimination, the AUROC value of the L/A ratio was also significantly higher than that of lactate (hepatic dysfunction: 0.70 vs. 0.66; renal dysfunction: 0.71 vs. 0.67). The L/A ratio cut-off and hypoalbminemia showed further discriminative value for 28-day mortality even in patients with normal or intermediate lactate levels.The prognostic performance of the L/A ratio was superior to that of a single lactate measurement for predicting 28-day mortality of critically ill sepsis patients. L/A ratio can be a useful prognostic factor regardless of initial lactate level and the presence of hepatic or renal dysfunction.

Background: We compared the clinical characteristics and outcomes between the new definition of sepsis-3 septic shock and the definition previously used from 1991 until recently. Methods: We conducted an observational study using a prospective, multi-center registry of septic shock from October 2015 to February 2017. Registry data were collected by 10 emergency departments (EDs) in tertiary hospitals that are members of the Korean Shock Society. Data on septic shock patients who met the previous septic shock definition were collected. The patients were divided into a sepsis-3 defined septic shock group, made up of those who met the new criteria for refractory hypotension with hyperlactatemia, and a group of those who met only the 1991 definition for septic shock. The primary outcome was 90-day mortality, and secondary outcomes were 28-day mortality and in-hospital mortality. Results: Of all 1,028 included patients, 574 (55.8%) met the septic shock criteria for sepsis-3, leaving 454 patients who met only the previous definition. Those who met the sepsis-3 criteria demonstrated higher comorbidity than those who met the previous definition (83.1% vs . 75.3%, P vs . 5.0±2.9, 9.3±3.8 vs . 6.6±3.4, and 20.0 (15.0–26.0) vs . 15.0 (10.0–20.3), respectively; P vs . 23.3%; P vs . 17.1% and 25.1% vs . 16.5%, respectively; P Conclusions: The new definition of septic shock successfully selected patients with greater severities and worse outcomes.

Background We developed a hospital-based cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training model focused on the target population (family members of patients with potential risks for cardiac arrest) and compared the outcome of CPR training between target and non-target populations for validity. Methods Family members of patients in training were divided into three groups on the basis of patients' diseases, as follows: 1) the cardio-specific (CS) risk group, including family members of patients with cardiac disease at risk of cardiac arrest; 2) the cardiovascular (CV) risk group, including family members of patients with risk factors for cardiovascular disease; and 3) the no-risk group. Pre- and posttraining surveys and skill tests as well as a post-training 3-month telephone survey were conducted. Educational outcomes were analyzed. Results A total of 203 family members were enrolled into 21 CPR training classes. The CS group (n=88) included elderly persons and housewives with a lower level of education compared with the CV (n=79) and no-risk groups (n=36). The CS group was motivated by healthcare professionals and participated in the training course. The CS, CV, and no-risk groups showed improvements in knowledge, willingness to perform CPR, and skills. Despite the older age and lower level of education in the CS group, the effects of education were similar to those in the other groups. A high rate of response and secondary propagation of CPR training were observed in the CS group. Conclusion Family members of patients with heart disease could be an appropriate target population for CPR training, particularly in terms of recruitment and secondary propagation. Targeted intervention may be an effective training strategy to improve bystander CPR rates.

Background Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) has been considered in selected candidates with potentially reversible causes during a limited period. Candidate selection and the identification of predictable conditions are important factors in determining outcomes during CPR in the emergency department (ED). The objective of this study was to determine the key indicators and develop a prediction model for survival to hospital discharge in patients with sudden cardiac arrest who received ECPR. Methods This retrospective analysis was based on a prospective cohort, which included data on CPR with ECPR-related variables. Patients with sudden cardiac arrest who received ECPR at the ED from May 2006 to June 2016 were included. The primary outcome was survival to discharge. Prognostic indicators and the prediction model were analyzed using logistic regression. Results Out of 111 ECPR patients, there were 18.9% survivors. Survivors showed younger age, shorter CPR duration (p