title: Prolonged pulseless electrical activity: successful resuscitation using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
abstract: Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) can rapidly transform into sudden cardiac death, if the etiology cannot be identified and corrected immediately. The clinical challenge is how to resuscitate the patient with prolonged PEA. We present a case of a 51-year-old man with PEA due to acute myocardial infarction caused by total occlusion of the main coronary artery, which was refractory to prolonged conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was initiated approximately 75 minutes after prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation; this achieved a sustained return of spontaneous circulation, which permitted adequate time for subsequent coronary intervention. He was discharged on day 16 without any further sequelae or neurologic deficits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsi-Wen
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Chieh
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; College of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsu-Heng
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yao-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan. Electronic address: 57385@cch.org.tw.
authors.forename: Fu-Yuan
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Siao
mesh_terms: D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000379:methods*; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation / Q000379:methods*; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged