Dead or dying? Pulseless electrical activity during trauma resuscitation

Handheld Doppler to improve pulse checks during resuscitation of putative pulseless electrical activity arrest.

1042 April 2014 T difficulty in determining pulselessness via manual palpation in simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been well documented in the literature. Previous studies have suggested that trained medical personnel demonstrate a specificity of only 55% for the manual diagnoses of pulselessness.1 Other research has confirmed the poor diagnostic accuracy of manual pulse checks...

Continuous mechanical chest compression during in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation of patients with pulseless electrical activity.

UNLABELLED Survival after in-hospital pulseless electrical activity (PEA) cardiac arrest is poor and has not changed during the last 10 years. Effective chest compressions may improve survival after PEA. We investigated whether a mechanical device (LUCAS™-CPR) can ensure chest compressions during cardiac arrest according to guidelines and without interruption during transport, diagnostic proced...

Pulseless electrical activity during electroconvulsive therapy: a case report

BACKGROUND Arrhythmias resulting in cardiac arrest during electroconvulsive therapy have been reported. Most reported cases of cardiac arrest had asystole as the initial rhythm. Pulseless electrical activity as an initial rhythm of cardiac arrest during electroconvulsive therapy has never been reported. Also, thromboembolism after inflation of pneumatic tourniquet during lower limb surgery has ...

Application of ultrasound in pulseless electrical activity (PEA) cardiac arrest

Atropine, halothane, and pulseless electrical activity.

C ardiovascular depression from halothane overdose is a well-described cause of cardiac arrest in children undergoing anesthesia. In Salem et al’s (1) report of cardiac arrests in infants and children, seven of 73 were related to overdose of halothane. In Keenan and Boyan’s (2) landmark article on cardiac arrest due to anesthesia, five of six pediatric arrests were due to halothane excess, with...