In hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation--analysis of 188 CPRs

Of 188 patients with cardiac arrest, who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation over a period of 13 months, 34 (18%) survived to leave the hospital. Most cardiac arrests (36%) occurred at the age of 60-69 years. Majority of CPRs were performed in the accident and emergency (31%), coronary care unit (28%) and acute medical wards (21%). Most common cause (48%) was myocardial infarction. Poor outcome was associated with initial rhythm of asystole. These figures suggest that the incidence of successful outcome for CPRs in hospital has not changed significantly over the past twenty-five years.