Document Detail


Prehospital cardiac arrest in Leicestershire: targeting areas for improvement.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  8832342     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: To identify the impact of advanced life support skills on outcome for prehospital cardiac arrest in a defined population and to assess the value of certain physiological variables in predicting the outcome in those successfully resuscitated in the accident and emergency (A&E) department; to identify areas for improvement in the outcome of such patients. DESIGN: Prospective 12 month study. SETTING: Leicestershire, United Kingdom. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Survival to hospital discharge and status at 6 months. RESULTS: 266 patients were identified as having suffered a prehospital cardiac arrest; of these, 86 had their resuscitation attempt terminated in the community by a general practitioner and 180 were transferred to the A&E department of the Leicester Royal Infirmary. Of the latter, 159 were felt to be of cardiac aetiology, and 19 were eventually discharged from hospital. All survivors had experienced a witnessed cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation (VF) being identified as the initial rhythm. After adjusting for age and sex using logistic regression, the Glasgow coma score (GCS) was found to be associated with subsequent mortality (chi 2 = 18.22 on 2 df, P < 0.0001). Compared to a baseline GCS of 9-15, the relative odds of death for a GCS of 3 were 25.3 (95% confidence interval 4.3 to 149-9), while a GCS of 4-8 gave a relative odds of death of 12-18 (95% CI 1.8 to 80.2). No significant association was found between postarrest arterial pH and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The immediate GCS on admission is a predictor of outcome and it is important to monitor its trend in the first 24 h. Multidisciplinary audit and joint guidelines with other specialties are important in optimising the care of these patients.
Authors:
T B Hassan; F G Hickey; S Goodacre; G G Bodiwala
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of accident & emergency medicine     Volume:  13     ISSN:  1351-0622     ISO Abbreviation:  J Accid Emerg Med     Publication Date:  1996 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1996-12-10     Completed Date:  1996-12-10     Revised Date:  2009-11-18    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9433751     Medline TA:  J Accid Emerg Med     Country:  ENGLAND    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  251-5     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of A&E Medicine, Leicester Royal Infirmary.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Emergency Medical Services*
England / epidemiology
Glasgow Coma Scale
Heart Arrest / mortality*
Humans
Predictive Value of Tests
Prognosis
Prospective Studies
Survival Rate
Comments/Corrections
Comment In:
J Accid Emerg Med. 1997 Mar;14(2):131-2   [PMID:  9132192 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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