Early Functional Status Change After Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in a Pediatric Heart Center: A Single-Center...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Cardiology
• Critical Care Medicine
• Cardiovascular Research

Background:

• Children with cardiac disease have a higher risk of in-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) compared to those without.
• In-hospital CA occurs in 2-6% of pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and 4-6% in pediatric cardiac ICUs.
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for in-hospital CA yields a return of spontaneous circulation in 43-64% and survival rates of 20-51%.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate changes in functional status of pediatric survivors of in-hospital CA.
• To analyze outcomes using the Functional Status Scale (FSS) in a heart center.
• To identify factors associated with unfavorable outcomes in pediatric CA survivors.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of patients aged 0-18 years who experienced CA between June 2015 and December 2020.
• Data collected from a university-affiliated quaternary children's hospital.
• Functional status assessed using the FSS for hospital discharge survivors.

Main Results:

• 61% of 165 CA patients survived to hospital discharge.
• Among survivors, 26% developed new morbidity and 9% had unfavorable outcomes.
• Unfavorable outcomes were associated with longer CICU length of stay (LOS) and higher epinephrine doses.

Conclusions:

• A significant portion of pediatric cardiac arrest survivors experience new morbidity or unfavorable outcomes.
• Longer CICU LOS and increased epinephrine administration are linked to poorer functional status.
• Further multicenter research is crucial to identify modifiable risk factors and enhance outcomes for this vulnerable population.