Pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Korea: A nationwide population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to describe the incidence and demographics of pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Korea.


METHODS
We identified non-traumatic OHCA patients aged less than 20 years from a Korean nationwide OHCA registry (2006-2007). Data from emergency medical service (EMS) run-sheets and hospital records were reviewed. We excluded cases with unknown hospital outcomes. Patient characteristics, treatment by EMS, and outcomes were compared by age groups: infant (<1 year), children (1-11 years), and adolescents (12-19 years).


RESULTS
A total of 971 patients including infants (n=299, 30.8%), children (n=305, 31.4%), and adolescents (n=367, 37.8%) met inclusion criteria. The incidence of pediatric OHCA was 4.2 per 100,000 person-years (67.1 in infants, 2.5 in children, and 3.5 in adolescents). The rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation administered was 82.1% (infants 80.6%, children 82.0%, and adolescent 83.4%). The rate of applying automated external defibrillators and advanced airway management (endotracheal intubation or laryngeal mask airway), was only 4.1% and 2.5%, respectively. 7.4% showed ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the initial ECG. Survival to hospital discharge for all pediatric OHCA was 4.9% (2.9% for infants, 4.7% for children, and 7.2% of adolescents). For EMS-treated pediatric OHCA or patients with VF or pulseless VT, the rate was 5.0% and 31.6%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Incidence and hospital outcomes in pediatric OHCA in Korea were comparable to other population-based nationwide reports.
Park
Chang Bae
CB
Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. ipanema2@medimail.co.kr
Shin
Sang Do
SD
Suh
Gil Joon
GJ
Ahn
Ki Ok
KO
Cha
Won Chul
WC
Song
Kyoung Jun
KJ
Kim
Soo Jin
SJ
Lee
Eui Jung
EJ
Ong
Marcus Eng Hock
ME
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D047548:Defibrillators; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007723:Korea; D017214:Laryngeal Masks; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics; D012042:Registries; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000503:physiopathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult