Prognostic Value of the Conversion to a Shockable Rhythm in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients with Initial Non-Shockable Rhythm

A potentially lifesaving error: unintentional high-dose adrenaline administration in anaphylaxis-induced cardiac arrest; a case report

BACKGROUND

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a crucial skill for emergency medical services. As high-risk-low-frequency events pose an immense mental load to providers, concepts of crew resource management, non-technical skills and the science of human errors are intended to prepare healthcare providers for high-pressure situations. However, medical errors occur, and organizations and institutions face the challenge of providing a blame-free error culture to achieve continuous improvement by avoiding similar errors in the future. In this case, we report a critical medical error during an anaphylaxis-associated cardiac arrest, its handling and the unexpected yet favourable outcome for the patient.

CASE PRESENTATION

During an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to chemotherapy-induced anaphylaxis, a patient received a 10-fold dose of epinephrine due to shortcomings in communication and standardization via a central venous port catheter. The patient converted from a non-shockable rhythm into a pulseless ventricular tachycardia and subsequently into ventricular fibrillation. The patient was cardioverted and defibrillated and had a return of spontaneous circulation with profound hypotension only 6 min after the administration of 10 mg epinephrine. The patient survived without any residues or neurological impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

This case demonstrates the potential deleterious effects of shortcomings in communication and deviation from standard protocols, especially in emergencies. Here, precise instructions, closed-loop communication and unambiguous labelling of syringes would probably have avoided the epinephrine overdose central to this case. Interestingly, this serious error may have saved the patient's life, as it led to the development of a shockable rhythm. Furthermore, as the patient was still in profound hypotension after administering 10 mg of epinephrine, this high dose might have counteracted the severe vasoplegic state in anaphylaxis-associated cardiac arrest. Lastly, as the patient was receiving care for advanced malignancy, the likelihood of termination of resuscitation in the initial non-shockable cardiac arrest was significant and possibly averted by the medication error.

Association between Conversion to Shockable Rhythms and Survival with Favorable Neurological Outcomes for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests

BACKGROUND

The initial cardiac rhythm in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) portends different prognoses and affects treatment decisions. Initial shockable rhythms are associated with good survival and neurological outcomes but there is conflicting evidence for those who initially present with non-shockable rhythms. The aim of this study is to evaluate if OHCA with conversion from non-shockable (i.e., asystole and pulseless electrical activity) rhythms to shockable rhythms compared to OHCA remaining in non-shockable rhythms is associated with better survival and neurological outcomes.

METHOD

OHCA cases from the Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study registry in 13 countries between January 2009 and February 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Cases with missing initial rhythms, age <18 years, presumed non-medical cause of arrest, and not conveyed by emergency medical services were excluded. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between initial and subsequent shockable rhythm, survival to discharge, and survival with favorable neurological outcomes (cerebral performance category 1 or 2).

RESULTS

Of the 116,387 cases included. 11,153 (9.6%) had initial shockable rhythms and 9,765 (8.4%) subsequently converted to shockable rhythms. Japan had the lowest proportion of OHCA patients with initial shockable rhythms (7.3%). For OHCA with initial shockable rhythm, the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for survival and good neurological outcomes were 8.11 (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.62-8.63) and 15.4 (95%CI 14.1-16.8) respectively. For OHCA that converted from initial non-shockable to shockable rhythms, the aORs for survival and good neurological outcomes were 1.23 (95%CI 1.10-1.37) and 1.61 (95%CI 1.35-1.91) respectively. The aORs for survival and good neurological outcomes were 1.48 (95%CI 1.22-1.79) and 1.92 (95%CI 1.3 - 2.84) respectively for initial asystole, while the aOR for survival in initial pulseless electrical activity patients was 0.83 (95%CI 0.71-0.98). Prehospital adrenaline administration had the highest aOR (2.05, 95%CI 1.93-2.18) for conversion to shockable rhythm.

CONCLUSION

In this ambidirectional cohort study, conversion from non-shockable to shockable rhythm was associated with improved survival and neurologic outcomes compared to rhythms that continued to be non-shockable. Continued advanced resuscitation may be beneficial for OHCA with subsequent conversion to shockable rhythms.

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus following cardiac arrest: overlooked, untreated and misjudged

AIMS

Seizures and status epilepticus (SE) are detected in almost a third of the comatose cardiac arrest survivors. As the literature is quite exhaustive regarding SE with motor symptoms in those patients, little is known about nonconvulsive SE (NCSE). Our aim was to compile the evidence from the literature of the frequency and outcome of NCSE in adult patients remaining in coma after resuscitation.

METHODS

The medical search PubMed was screened for most relevant articles reporting the emergence and outcome of NCSE in comatose post-resuscitated adult patients.

RESULTS

We identified 11 cohort studies (four prospective observational, seven retrospective) including 1092 patients with SE in 29-96% and NCSE reported in 1-20%. EEG evaluation started at a median of 9.5 h (range 7.5-14.8) after cardiac arrest, during sedation and targeted temperature management (TTM). Favorable outcome after NCSE occurred in 24.5%. We found no study reporting EEG to detect or exclude NCSE in patients remaining in coma prior to the initiation of TTM and without sedation withing the first hours after ROSC.

DISCUSSION

Studies on NCSE after ROSC are scarce and unsystematic, reporting favorable outcome in every fourth patient experiencing NCSE after ROSC. This suggests that NCSE is often overlooked and outcome after NCSE is not always poor. The low data quality does not allow firm conclusions regarding the effects of NCSE on outcome calling for further investigation. In the meantime, clinicians should avoid equating NCSE after ROSC with poor prognosis.

The factor influencing the rate of ROSC for nontraumatic OHCA in New Taipei city

ABSTRACT

Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is critical for the Emergency Medical Services System. When compared to other developed countries, Taiwan has lower rate of ROSC in OHCA patients.We conducted a retrospective study of cardiac arrest using The Emergency Medical Service Dispatching Center in Northern Taiwan and The Prehospital Care System of New Taipei City Paramedic Service. Patients suffering from nontraumatic OHCA between August of 2019 to February of 2020 were included. We analyzed the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quality parameters such as chest compression interruptions, bystander CPR, shockable rhythm, CPR interruption, chest compression fraction (CCF) average, patient transportation in buildings, and adrenaline injection during CPR. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between potential independent variables and ROSC.In our study, we involved 1265 subjects suffering from nontraumatic OHCA, among which 587 patients met inclusion criteria. We identified that CCF> 0.8, chest compression interruption greater than 3 times, and patient transportation in the building were the most critical factors influencing ROSC. However, patient transportation in a building was identified as a dependent predictor variable (P = .4752).We concluded that CCF > 0.8 and chest compression interruption greater than 3 times were essential factors affecting the CPR ROSC rate. The most significant reason for suboptimal CCF and CPR interruption is patient transportation in a building. Improving the latter point could facilitate high-quality CPR.

Prognostic value of changes in the cardiac arrest rhythms from the prehospital stage to the emergency department in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients without prehospital returns of spontaneous circulation: A nationwide observational study

Background

This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of the changes in cardiac arrest rhythms from the prehospital stage to the ED (emergency department) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients without prehospital returns of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).

Methods

This retrospective analysis was performed using nationwide population-based OHCA data from South Korea between 2012 and 2016. Patients with OHCA with medical causes and without prehospital ROSC were included and divided into four groups according to the nature of their cardiac arrest rhythms (shockable or non-shockable) in the prehospital stage and in the ED: (1) the shockable and shockable (Shock-Shock) group, (2) the shockable and non-shockable (Shock-NShock) group, (3) the non-shockable and shockable (NShock-Shock) group, and (4) the non-shockable and non-shockable (NShock-NShock) group. The presence of a shockable rhythm was confirmed based on the delivery of an electrical shock. Propensity score matching and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effect of changes in the cardiac rhythms on patient outcomes. The primary outcome was sustained ROSC in the ED; the secondary outcomes were survival to hospital discharge and good neurological outcomes at hospital discharge.

Results

After applying the exclusion criteria, 51,060 eligible patients were included in the study (Shock-Shock, 4223; Shock-NShock, 3060; NShock-Shock, 11,509; NShock-NShock, 32,268). The propensity score-matched data were extracted from the six comparative subgroups. For sustained ROSC in the ED, Shock-Shock showed a higher likelihood than Shock-NShock (P <0.01) and NShock-NShock (P <0.01), Shock-NShock showed a lower likelihood than NShock-Shock (P <0.01) and NShock-NShock (P <0.01), NShock-Shock showed a higher likelihood NShock-NShock (P <0.01). For survival to hospital discharge, Shock-Shock showed a higher likelihood than Shock-NShock (P <0.01), NShock-Shock (P <0.01), and NShock-NShock (P <0.01), Shock-NShock showed a higher likelihood than NShock-Shock (P <0.01) and NShock-NShock (P <0.01), of sustained ROSC in the ED. For good neurological outcomes, Shock-Shock showed higher likelihood than Shock-NShock (P <0.01), NShock-Shock (P <0.01), and NShock-NShock (P <0.01), Shock-NShock showed better likelihood than NShock-NShock (P <0.01), NShock-Shock showed a better likelihood than NShock-NShock (P <0.01).

Conclusion

Sustained ROSC in the ED may be expected for patients with shockable rhythms in the ED compared with those with non-shockable rhythms in the ED. For the clinical outcomes, survival to hospital discharge and neurological outcomes, patients with Shock-Shock showed the best outcome, whereas patients with NShock-NShock showed the poorest outcome and Shock-NShock showed a higher likelihood of achieving survival to hospital discharge with no significant differences in the neurological outcomes compared with NShock-Shock.

Effectiveness of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation in improving the survival and neurological recovery of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A nationwide patient cohort study

INTRODUCTION

Few studies have focused on enhancing causality and yielding unbiased estimates on the effectiveness of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (BCPR) on the outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in a real-world setting. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of BCPR on the outcomes of OHCA and its differences according to the characteristics of OHCA.

METHODS

This study enrolled all patients with OHCA of cardiac etiology treated by emergency medical services (EMS) in Korea from 2012 to 2015. The endpoints were survival and neurological recovery at discharge, and the main exposure was BCPR conducted by a layperson. The effect of BCPR was analyzed after adjusting for confounders, determined using a directed acyclic graph, by inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and model-based standardization (STR). Moreover, differences in subgroups and time trends were evaluated.

RESULTS

Among 10,505 eligible patients after excluding those with missing data on BCPR, 7,721 patients received BCPR, accounting for 74.3% of EMS-treated OHCA patients. BCPR increased the odds of survival and good neurological recovery at discharge by 1.67- (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.44-1.93) and 1.93- (95% CI: 1.56-2.39) fold, respectively, in the IPTW analysis. These findings were comparable to those obtained with STR. The odds ratios were 2.39 (95% CI: 1.91-2.94) and 2.70 (95% CI: 1.94-3.41), respectively, in the sensitivity analysis of the missing BCPR information considering confounders and the outcome variable. However, the effect of qualified BCPR was not evenly distributed, and it did not increase with time. BCPR was likely to be more effective in male patients aged <65 years, those who experienced an OHCA in a private place or non-capital region, and those with shockable rhythm at the scene.

CONCLUSION

Based on data from a nationwide registry, the estimated effect of BCPR on survival and neurological recovery was moderate and did not improve from 2012 to 2015.

Association between cardiac rhythm conversion and neurological outcome among cardiac arrest patients with initial shockable rhythm: a nationwide prospective study in Japan

AIMS

Initial cardiac rhythm, particularly shockable rhythm, is a key factor in resuscitation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients. The purpose of this study was to clarify the association between cardiac rhythm conversion and neurologic prognosis in OHCA patients with initial shockable rhythm at the scene.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The study included adult patients with OHCA due to medical causes with pre-hospital initial shockable rhythm and who were still in cardiac arrest at hospital arrival. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of cardiac arrest rhythm at hospital arrival for 1-month favourable neurologic status and 1-month survival, adjusted for potential confounders. Of 34 754 patients in the 2014-2017 JAAM-OHCA Registry, 1880 were included in the final study analysis. The percentages of 1-month favourable neurologic status for shockable rhythm, pulseless electrical activity (PEA), and asystole at hospital arrival were 17.4% (137/789), 3.6% (18/507), and 1.5% (9/584), respectively. The AORs for 1-month favourable neurologic status comparing to OHCA patients who maintained shockable rhythm at hospital arrival were PEA, 0.19 (95% CI, 0.11-0.32) and asystole, 0.08 (95% CI, 0.04-0.16), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Findings showed that the 1-month neurologic outcome in OHCA patients who converted to non-shockable rhythm at hospital arrival was very poor compared with patients who had sustained shockable rhythm. Also, patients with conversion to PEA had better neurologic prognosis than conversion to asystole.