External noninvasive cardiac pacing in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
External noninvasive cardiac pacing was applied outside the hospital to 19 patients who had experienced cardiopulmonary arrest and 1 patient with life-threatening bradycardia. Seven patients developed electrocardiographic evidence of pacemaker capture, although only 2 had palpable pulses. The patient with bradycardia was successfully paced. This study demonstrates the feasibility of cardiac pacing in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest but confirms the poor prognosis of asystolic cardiac arrest even with the application of pacing.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006336:Heart Massage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D011674:Pulse; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000379:methods*