title: Long-term outcome of paediatric cardiorespiratory arrest in Spain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the final outcome of cardiorespiratory arrest (CRA) in children and the neurological and functional state of survivors at 1 year.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 18-month prospective, multicentre study analysing out-of-hospital and in-hospital CRA in children was carried out; 283 children between 7 days and 17 years of age were included. CRA and resuscitation data were registered according to Utstein style. The outcome variables were: sustained return of spontaneous circulation (initial survival), and survival at 1 year (final survival). The status of survivors was evaluated by means of the paediatric cerebral performance category (PCPC) scale and the paediatric overall performance category (POPC) scale at Paediatric Intensive Care Unit discharge, at hospital discharge, and at 1 year follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 283 children, 311 CRA episodes, 73 respiratory arrests (23.5%) and 238 cardiac arrests (76.5%) were analysed. Seventeen children suffered more than one CRA episode (range: 2-6). The initial survival was 60.2% and 1-year survival was 33.2%. The final survival was significantly higher in respiratory arrest than in cardiac arrest patients (70.0% versus 21.1%) (P < 0.0001). After 1 year follow-up, 87.3% of patients had scores 1 or 2 on the PCPC scale and 84.0% had scores 1 or 2 in the POPC scale; these results indicate that 1 year after CRA, the majority of survivors had normal neurological and functional status or showed only mild disability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prognosis of CRA in children continues to be poor in terms of survival but quite good in terms of neurological and functional status among survivors. Additional strategies and efforts are needed to improve the short-term prognosis of paediatric CRA. However, the long-term outcome of survivors is reassuring.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Críticos y Urgencias Pediátricas, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López-Herce
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Núñez
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Domínguez
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.forename: Custodio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Calvo
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Delgado
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D006304:Health Status; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000401:mortality* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D013995:Time