Is ventricular fibrillation the most common initial rhythm in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest?

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_814C24788EC2
Type
Inproceedings: an article in a conference proceedings.
Publication sub-type
Poster: Summary – with images – on one page of the results of a researche project. The summaries of the poster must be entered in "Abstract" and not "Poster".
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Is ventricular fibrillation the most common initial rhythm in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest?
Title of the conference
Resuscitation 2004, 7th Congress of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC)
Author(s)
Katz E., Metzger J., Schlaepfer J., Fromer M., Fishman R., Kehtari R., Mayer L., Kappenberger L.
Address
Budapest, Hungary, September 8-11
ISBN
0300-9572
ISSN-L
0300-9572
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2004
Volume
62
Series
Resuscitation
Pages
403
Language
english
Abstract
Background: Historical data based on Emergency Medical
Services (EMS) observations estimated ventricular fibrillation
(VF) to be the most common initial rhythm in out-ofhospital
cardiac arrest (OHCA).However recent observations
also based on analysis of EMS data reported a decreasing
incidence of out-of-hospital VF. The aim of our study was
to determine the incidence of out-of-hospital VF in French
speaking part of Switzerland. Methods: A retrospective analysis
of EMS registers in the French speaking part of Switzerland
(population 1.5 million inhabitants) collected details of
OHCA during major sporting events in 1998, 2001 and 2002.
Only adult non-traumatic OHCA were selected for our study.
Results:We identified 190 patients who suffered fromOHCA
during study period. Most patients were males 115 (60%).
The mean age (S.D.) was 65 (15) years; 130 OHCA (68%)
occured at home. Despite a mean response time (S.D.) of 7.9
(1.2) min only 38 (20%) patients were found in VF on arrival
of the EMS. In 127 (67%) patients asystole was the first
recorded "rhythm" and in 25 (13%) patients pulseless electrical
activity was recorded. Conclusions: The low incidence of
out-of-hospital VF in our study cannot be explained only by
EMS response time, which is longer in comparison with historical
data but still comparable to most recent reports. One
of the possible explanations is the increased time interval between
collapse and the call for help reducing the likelihood of
finding the patient in VF by EMS crew. Aggressive primary
and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease (including
widespread use of b-blocking agents) can also contribute
to our findings.
Create date
28/01/2008 10:09
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:41
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