[Analysis of care in cardiorespiratory arrest in an emergency medical unit]

OBJECTIVE

To describe the epidemiological profile of cardiac arrests and to determine factors associated with successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

DESIGN

Retrospective descriptive observational study. SITES: Badajoz city (Spain) and population attended by the Medical Emergency Unit of the Public Health System in that city.

PARTICIPANTS

A study 359 cardiac arrests resuscitated between January 2002 and May 2009.

RESULTS

Out of the cardiac arrests that ocurred in adults, 65.40% were male, the cause was not traumatic in 88%; 65.70% occurred in the patient's home,and in 6% of the cases there had been basic life support. The higher success rate after was achieved in adult male patients (OR: 0,43; CI 95%; 0.25-0.73; P=.002), whose rhythm was shockable (OR: 0,16; CI 95%: 0,09-0,27; P<.001) and when the start time of advanced life support was equal to or less than 10 minutes (OR: 0,22; CI 95%: 0,10-0,49; P<.001). In a multivariant analysis success of CPR was independently associated with male gender, initial shockable rhythm, and the onset of advanced life support within 10 minutes. Nine children were revived, but success was not achieved in any.

CONCLUSIONS

Cardiac arrests are more common in adults and in few cases CPR is previously performed. Male gender, an initial shockable rhythm, and the early initiation of advanced life support, are associated with higher success of CPR. There were few CPR performed in cardiac arrest in children, and the prognosis was more unfavorable.

Coronary thrombi increase PTCA risk. Angioscopy as a clinical tool

BACKGROUND

The presence of angiographically identified intracoronary thrombus has been variably associated with complications after coronary angioplasty. Angiography has been shown to be less sensitive than angioscopy for detecting subtle details of intracoronary morphology, such as intracoronary thrombi. The clinical importance of thrombi detectable by angioscopy but not by angiography is not known.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Percutaneous coronary angioscopy was performed in 122 patients undergoing conventional coronary balloon angioplasty (PTCA) at six medical centers. Unstable angina was present in 95 patients (78%) and stable angina in 27 (22%). Therapy was not guided by angioscopic findings, and no patient received thrombolytic therapy as an adjunct to angioplasty. Coronary thrombi were identified in 74 target lesions (61%) by angioscopy versus only 24 (20%) by angiography. A major in-hospital complication (death, myocardial infarction, or emergency bypass surgery) occurred in 10 of 74 patients (14%) with angioscopic intracoronary thrombus, compared with only 1 of 48 patients (2%) without thrombi (P = .03). In-hospital recurrent ischemia (recurrent angina, repeat PTCA, or abrupt occlusion) occurred in 19 of 74 patients (26%) with angioscopic intracoronary thrombi versus only 5 of 48 (10%) without thrombi (P = .03). Relative risk analysis demonstrated that angioscopic thrombus was strongly associated with adverse outcomes (either a major complication or a recurrent ischemic event) after PTCA (relative risk, 3.11; 95% CI, 1.28 to 7.60; P = .01) and that angiographic thrombi were not associated with these complications (relative risk, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.36 to 2.00; P = .91).

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of intracoronary thrombus associated with coronary stenoses is significantly underestimated by angiography. Angioscopic intracoronary thrombi, the majority of which were not detected by angiography, are associated with an increased incidence of adverse outcomes after coronary angioplasty.