Indications and limitations of induced hypothermic therapy for out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest.
OBJECTIVE
To identify candidates indicated to undergo induced hypothermic therapy (IHT) among comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) based on a retrospective review of medical charts.


METHODS
Between 1995 and 2004, 49 patients who recovered from CPA and treated by IHT were analyzed. The subjects were divided into 2 groups. The first group (GR, n = 16) consisted of patients with a recovery of consciousness and the second group (VD, n = 33) consisted of patients who either remained unconscious or who died.


RESULTS
Using a multiple logistic regression analysis, out-of-hospital return of spontaneous circulation was the only factor independently associated with the outcome (odds ratio, 0.03; 95% confidence interval, 0.00-0.23; P = .001).


CONCLUSIONS
IHT may be beneficial for CPA patients with out-of-hospital return of spontaneous circulation. Because of the small sample size, further large human studies are warranted.
Department of Traumatology and Critical Care Medicine, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Japan. yanagawa@me.ndmc.ac.jp
Youichi
Y
Yanagawa
Akira
A
Takasu
Toshihisa
T
Sakamoto
Yoshiaki
Y
Okada
D000328:Adult; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D018579:Patient Selection; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014474:Unconsciousness