Therapeutic hypothermia post out-of-hospital cardiac arrest - more questions than answers?

New Developments in the Treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction Associated with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. A Review

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurring as the first manifestation of an acute myocardial infarction is associated with very high mortality rates. As in comatose patients the etiology of cardiac arrest may be unclear, especially in cases without ST-segment elevation on the surface electrocardiogram, the decision to perform or not to perform urgent coronary angiography can have a significant impact on the prognosis of these patients. This review summarises the current knowledge and recommendations for treating patients with acute myocardial infarction presenting with OHCA. New therapeutic measures for the post-resuscitation phase are presented, such as hypothermia or extracardiac life support, together with strategies aiming to restore the coronary flow in the resuscitation phase using intra-arrest percutaneous revascularization performed during resuscitation. The role of regional networks in providing rapid access to the hospital facilities and to a catheterization laboratory for these critical cardiovascular emergencies is described.