Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ethics

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ethics

The earliest documentation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) dates to the Old Testament, which describes how the prophet Elisha resuscitated an apparently dead child by blowing air into his mouth.(1) Modern CPR began in 1960 with the landmark study by Kouwenhoven, Jude, and Knickerbocker, which reported combining closed chest compression, mouth-to-mouth breathing, and external defibrillati...

The ethics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. I. Background to decision making.

Futile cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may prevent humane care of the dying child and deprive parents of the opportunity to express their love, grief, and dedication at a critical moment, while appropriate and successful CPR may restore intact their child. Attempted resuscitation of corpses or children with terminal illness indicates inadequate knowledge, discrimination, and decision making...

Comparison of Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation with Conventional Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Is Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Beneficial?

BACKGROUND With improvements in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques, the quality and the effectiveness of CPR have been established; nevertheless, the survival rate after cardiac arrest still remains poor. Recently, many reports have shown good outcomes in cases where extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was used during prolonged CPR. Accordingly, we attempted to evaluate the i...

Cerebral Oximetry and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

T he article by Ibrahim et al in this issue of JAHA describes how cerebral oximetry measured during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is associated with restoration of pulses and survival. The authors consider whether this technology, which is portable, noninvasive, and easy to apply, could be used to guide resuscitation. They wisely provide tempered enthusiasm for this technology, and their ...

Thrombolysis and cardiopulmonary resuscitation: TROICA