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In-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest in Honduras
Martha Matamoros1, Roger Rodriguez, Allison Callejas
1From the *Hospital Escuela, Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and †Pediatric Intensive Care Department, Instituto de Investigación del Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
Insights
Pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) in Honduras shows low survival rates. Nonrespiratory causes, adrenaline use, and prolonged resuscitation significantly worsen prognosis for children experiencing CA.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Critical Care
- Global Health
Background:
- In-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest (CA) presents unique challenges, particularly in resource-limited settings.
- Understanding prognostic factors is crucial for improving outcomes in pediatric critical care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the characteristics and prognostic factors of in-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest (CA).
- To identify factors influencing survival to hospital discharge in pediatric CA patients in Honduras.
Main Methods:
- Prospective observational study involving 146 pediatric patients with in-hospital CA.
- Data collected as part of a multicenter international study.
- Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses used to determine mortality predictors.
Main Results:
- Cardiac arrest most frequently occurred in the emergency department (66.9%).
- Respiratory diseases and sepsis were the leading causes of CA.
- Survival to hospital discharge was 22.6%; factors associated with mortality included nonrespiratory CA cause, adrenaline administration, and CPR duration exceeding 10 minutes.
Conclusions:
- In-hospital pediatric CA in developing countries is associated with low survival rates.
- Nonrespiratory causes, need for adrenaline, and prolonged resuscitation indicate a worse prognosis for pediatric CA patients.
Objectives:
The objective of this study was to analyze the characteristic and the prognostic factors of in-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest (CA) in a public hospital Honduras.
Methods:
A prospective observational study was performed on pediatric in-hospital CA as a part of a multicenter international study. One hundred forty-six children were studied. The primary end point was survival at hospital discharge. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the influence of each factor on mortality.
Results:
Cardiac arrest occurred in the emergency department in 66.9%. Respiratory diseases and sepsis were predominant causes of CA. Return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 60% of patients, and 22.6% survived to hospital discharge. The factors related with mortality were nonrespiratory cause of CA (odds ratio [OR], 2.55; P = 0.045), adrenaline administration (OR, 4.96; P = 0.008), and a duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation more than 10 minutes (OR, 3.40; P = 0.012).
Conclusions:
In-hospital CA in children in a developing country has low survival. Patients with nonrespiratory causes and those who need adrenaline administration and prolonged resuscitation had worse prognosis.
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