Despite efforts to save more people suffering from in-hospital cardiac arrest, rates of survival after in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are no better today than they were more than a decade ago. This study was undertaken to assess the demographics, clinical parameters and outcomes of patients undergoing CPR by the code blue team at our center during 2001 to 2008. Data were collec...

Despite the reduction of mortality rate in the past years, coronary artery diseases (CADs) are the main reason of death in the world. Many factors including changes in nurses and medical staffs, numbers of beds influence the mortality rate of patients admitted in holidays and night time. The objectives of this study were to clarify the association between mortality rate and off-hours and holida...

Children suffering cardiac arrest (CA) are not uncommon in certain pediatric populations. Due to the increasing survival rates of child CA patients, there is a growing interest in, and concern for, their long-term intellectual, academic, emotional, and adaptive functioning. This article describes the possible neurologic sequelae of CA in children and presents standardized assessment results on ...

Objective. Since July 2004, it has become legal in Japan for laypersons to use automated external defibrillators (AEDs). We investigated the effect of AED installation in commonly used areas of Japanese Association for Acute Medicine accredited training (JAAM) hospitals. Methods. In 2008, we sent questionnaires to 419 JAAM hospitals enquiring about the systems, operations, outcome and character...

CONTEXT Racial differences in survival have not been previously studied after in-hospital cardiac arrest, an event for which access to care is not likely to influence treatment. OBJECTIVES To estimate racial differences in survival for patients with in-hospital cardiac arrests and examine the association of sociodemographic and clinical factors and the admitting hospital with racial differenc...

In-hospital cardiac arrest remains a major problem but new technologies allowing fully automatic external defibrillation are available. These technologies allow the concept of "external therapeutic monitoring" of lethal arrhythmias. Since early defibrillation improves outcome by decreasing morbidity and mortality, the use of this device should improve the outcome of in-hospital cardiac arrest v...

OBJECTIVES To analyze the relationship between previous severity of illness, lactic acid, creatinine and inotropic index with mortality of in-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) in children, and the value of a prognostic index designed for adults. METHODS The study included total of 44 children aged from 1 month to 18 years old who suffered a cardiac arrest while in hospital. The relationship betwee...

BACKGROUND Targeted temperature management is recommended for comatose adults and children after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; however, data on temperature management after in-hospital cardiac arrest are limited. METHODS In a trial conducted at 37 children's hospitals, we compared two temperature interventions in children who had had in-hospital cardiac arrest. Within 6 hours after the retu...

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines assume that cardiac arrest victims can be treated with a uniform chest compression (CC) depth and a standardized interval administration of vasopressor drugs. This non-personalized approach does not incorporate a patient's individualized response into ongoing resuscitative efforts. In previously reported porcine models of hypoxic and normoxic ventr...

Neurologic disability is a feared outcome of resuscitation from cardiac arrest. The study by Rech and colleagues in the previous issue of Critical Care describes the use of neuron-specific enolase to inform an early prognosis in patients who survived in-hospital cardiac arrest. In their study 'none of the patients had a DNR order and there was no limitation of life support.' As a result, 10% of...