Interv Akut Kardiol. 2005;4(1):10-17

OUT-OF-HOSPITAL CARDIAC ARREST IN THE EAST BOHEMIAN REGION

Miloslav Pleskot¹, Jaroslav Kajzr¹, Jiří Kvasnička¹, Miroslav Měšťan¹, Petr Pařízek¹, Miloslav Tauchman¹, Zdeněk Tušl¹, Anush Babu¹, Jakub Střítecký¹, Eva Čermáková², Petra Perná¹

¹ I. interní klinika Fakultní nemocnice v Hradci Králové

² Oddělení výpočetní techniky, Ústav lékařské biofyziky LF UK, Hradec Králové

Introduction: Long-term results of care in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) are mainly dependent on the quality and organisation of pre-hospital care.

Aim: Describe and assess certain indicators of care in patients with out-of-hospital CA in the East Bohemian region (sex, age, main diagnosis, in pre-hospital care: dispatch time, date and location of arrest, first ECG record). The authors mainly scrutinised the number of patients that were hospitalised and those that were discharged home.

Patients and methods: With the aid of a questionnaire supplied to 24 rescue centres in the East Bohemian region over the period from 1. 4. 2002 to 29. 5. 2004, a group of 660 patients (470 men, 190 women) aged 16 to 97 years (67 ± 13 years) with out-of-hospital CA were included.

Results: Most often CA had been announced between 8 and 9 a.m. at home in the month of December. A total of 522 patients (79.1 %) were given professional and 195 (29.6 %) layman cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Most frequently the pre-hospital ECG showed asystoly in 382 cases (57.9 %) and in 210 cases (31.8 %) ventricular fibrillation. From whole group 144 patients (21.8 %) were admitted to hospital as opposed to 462 (70 %) dying on the spot and 54 patients (8.2 %) during transport to the hospital. A further 95 patients (14.4 %) died while in hospital. Subsequently only 35 patients (5.3 %) were discharged home and 14 patients (2.1 %) were transferred to other hospitals. From the 218 autopsied patients a main diagnosis of ischemic heart disease was seen in 185 cases (84.9 %) and acute myocardial infarction in 68 cases (31.2 %).

Conclusion: The results of this project indicate a high lethality in patients with out-of-hospital CA. Only 5.3 % of all cases were discharged home. The great number of asystoly on the initial ECG may influence the initiation of professional CPR.

Keywords: Key words: arrhythmia, epidemiology, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, ventricular fibrillation, sudden cardiac death, cardiac arrest.

Published: January 1, 2006  Show citation