Surviving cardiac arrest: What happens after admission to the intensive care unit?

Patients successfully resuscitated from cardiac arrest (CA) are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for post-resuscitation care. These patients' prognosis remains dismal, with only a minority surviving to hospital discharge. Understanding the clinical factors involved in the management of these patients is essential to improve their prognosis.

To characterize the population admitted after successful reanimation from CA, and to analyze the factors associated with their outcomes.

We performed a retrospective descriptive study of patients admitted to an ICU after CA over a five-year period from January 2014 to December 2018. Demographic factors, CA characteristics, early management, mortality and neurologic outcomes were analyzed.

A total of 187 patients, median age 67 years, were admitted after CA, of whom 39% suffered out-of-hospital CA; 87% had an initial non-shockable rhythm and the most frequent presumed cause was cardiac (31%). In-hospital mortality was 63%. Significant neurologic dysfunction (cerebral performance category 3 or 4) was seen in 31% of survivors at hospital discharge. Non-immediate initiation of basic life support (BLS), higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II score and longer relative duration of vasopressor support were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality, while shockable rhythms were associated with improved survival. Higher Glasgow coma scale at ICU discharge and shorter length of ICU stay were predictors of better neurologic outcome.

This study highlights the positive prognostic impact of shockable rhythms, and confirms the importance of immediate initiation of BLS and prompt defibrillation, supporting the need for better training both outside and inside hospitals.