Mortality after cardiac arrest in children less than 2 years: relevant factors

There are only scant studies of predicting outcomes of pediatric resuscitation due to lack of population-based data. This study aimed to determine variable factors that may impact the survival of resuscitated children aged under 24 months.

This is a retrospective study of 66 children under 24 months. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with pediatric advanced life support guideline was performed uniformly for all children. Linear regression analysis with variable factors was conducted to determine impacts on mortality.

Factors with statistically significant increases in mortality were the number of administered epinephrine (p value < 0.001), total CPR duration (p value < 0.001), in-hospital CPR duration of out-hospital cardiac arrest (p value < 0.001), and changes in cardiac rhythm (p value < 0.040). However, there is no statistically significant association between patient outcomes and remaining factors such as age, sex, underlying disease, etiology, time between last normal to CPR, initial CPR location, initial cardiac rhythm, venous access time, or inotropic usage.

More than 10 times of epinephrine administration and CPR duration longer than 30 minutes were associated with a higher mortality rate, while each epinephrine administration and prolonged CPR time increased mortality.

This study analyzed various factors influencing mortality after cardiac arrest in patients under 24 months. Increased number of administered epinephrine and prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation duration do not increase survival rate in patients under 24 months. In patients with electrocardiogram rhythm changes during CPR, mortality increased when the rhythm changed into asystole in comparison to no changes occurring in the rhythm.