Feasibility of early waking cardiac arrest patients whilst receiving therapeutic hypothermia: The therapeutic hypothermia and early waking (THAW) trial

British Cardiovascular Interventional Society Consensus Position Statement on Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest 1: Pathway of Care

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) affects 80,000 patients per year in the UK; despite improvements in care, survival to discharge remains lower than 10%. NHS England and several societies recommend all resuscitated OHCA patients be directly transferred to a cardiac arrest centre (CAC). However, evidence is limited that all patients benefit from transfer to a CAC, and there are significant organisational, logistic and financial implications associated with such change in policies. Furthermore, there is significant variability in interventional cardiovascular practices for OHCA. Accordingly, the British Cardiovascular Interventional Society established a multidisciplinary group to address variability in practice and provide recommendations for the development of cardiac networks. In this position statement, we recommend: the formal establishment of dedicated CACs; a pathway of conveyance to CACs; and interventional practice to standardise our approach. Further research is needed to understand the role of CACs and which interventions benefit patients with OHCA to support wide-scale changes in networks of care across the UK.

Targeted Temperature Management After In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: An Ancillary Analysis of Targeted Temperature Management for Cardiac Arrest With Nonshockable Rhythm Trial Data

BACKGROUND

Targeted temperature management (TTM) currently is the only treatment with demonstrated efficacy in attenuating the harmful effects on the brain of ischemia-reperfusion injury after cardiac arrest. However, whether TTM is beneficial in the subset of patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) remains unclear.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Is TTM at 33 °C associated with better neurological outcomes after IHCA in a nonshockable rhythm compared with targeted normothermia (TN; 37 °C)?

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

We performed a post hoc analysis of data from the published Targeted Temperature Management for Cardiac Arrest with Nonshockable Rhythm randomized controlled trial in 584 patients. We included the 159 patients with IHCA; 73 were randomized to 33 °C treatment and 86 were randomized to 37 °C treatment. The primary outcome was survival with a good neurologic outcome (cerebral performance category [CPC] score of 1 or 2) on day 90. Mixed multivariate adjusted logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether survival with CPC score of 1 or 2 on day 90 was associated with type of temperature management after adjustment on baseline characteristics not balanced by randomization.

RESULTS

Compared with TN for 48 h, hypothermia at 33 °C for 24 h was associated with a higher percentage of patients who were alive with good neurologic outcomes on day 90 (16.4% vs 5.8%; P = .03). Day 90 mortality was not significantly different between the two groups (68.5% vs 76.7%; P = .24). By mixed multivariate analysis adjusted by Cardiac Arrest Hospital Prognosis score and circulatory shock status, hypothermia was associated significantly with good day 90 neurologic outcomes (OR, 2.40 [95% CI, 1.17-13.03]; P = .03).

INTERPRETATION

Hypothermia at 33 °C was associated with better day 90 neurologic outcomes after IHCA in a nonshockable rhythm compared with TN. However, the limited sample size resulted in wide CIs. Further studies of patients after cardiac arrest resulting from any cause, including IHCA, are needed.