title: Analysis of factors associated with successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation in non-traumatic dead-on-arrival patients in emergency department.
abstract: Out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest has a dismal prognosis. Successful resuscitation of these patients depends on the "chain of survival". In Taiwan, the emergency medical services (EMS) system is under development and the links of "chain of survival" are weak and frequently broken. A 2-year retrospective study was conducted from January, 1999, to December, 2000 to evaluate the factors of successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in non-traumatic DOA patients in ED. Of 175 studied patients, 51 patients (29.1%) were successfully resuscitated with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), but only 7 patients (4%) survived to hospital discharge. Most successfully resuscitated patients (84.3%) regained their vital signs within 30 minutes. There were no significant differences in age, sex, vehicle of transportation, administration of prehospital CPR or not, EMS response interval, on-scene duration, and scene-to-hospital interval between patients with ROSC and without ROSC. Compared with asystole cardiac rhythm, patients with pulseless electrical activity (PEA) had a higher successful resuscitation rate (p = 0.001), but no significant differences existed between patients with ventricular fibrillation/ventricular tachycardia (VF/VT) and PEA or VF/VT and asystole. However, there were no significant differences in the survival discharge rate among patients with different initial cardiac rhythms in ED.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, No. 100, Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. jinoli@kmu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Jiun-Nong
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Tzeng-Jih
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Mei-Chuan
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Jun-Jen
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Ching-Kuo
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Mee-Sun
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate