Table 1. Baseline Demographics and Prehospital Resuscitation Characteristics of Included Patients in a Study of Intra-arrest Transport, Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, and Immediate Invasive Assessment and Treatment in Refractory Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.
| Characteristics | No. (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Invasive strategy (n = 124) | Standard strategy (n = 132) | |
| Age, median (IQR), y | 59 (48-66) | 57 (47-65) |
| Sex | ||
| Men | 102 (82) | 110 (83) |
| Women | 22 (18) | 22 (17) |
| Medical history, No./total (%)a | ||
| Hypertension | 47/108 (44) | 42/83 (51) |
| Diabetes | 19/104 (18) | 17/83 (21) |
| Coronary artery disease | 17/104 (16) | 17/83 (21) |
| Chronic heart failure | 11/106 (10) | 5/79 (6) |
| COPD | 8/105 (8) | 2/79 (3) |
| Chronic kidney disease | 3/104 (3) | 2/79 (3) |
| Implanted ICD | 3/121 (3) | 0/89 |
| Location of cardiac arrest | ||
| Public place | 44 (36) | 54 (41) |
| Home | 42 (34) | 34 (26) |
| EMS | 19 (15) | 17 (13) |
| Car | 8 (7) | 7 (5) |
| Workplace | 5 (4) | 14 (11) |
| Hotel | 4 (3) | 6 (5) |
| Health facility | 2 (2) | 0 |
| Initial rhythmb | ||
| Ventricular fibrillation | 72 (58) | 84 (64) |
| Asystole | 31 (25) | 24 (18) |
| Pulseless electrical activity | 21 (17) | 24 (18) |
| Bystander CPRc | 123 (99) | 129 (98) |
| Telephone-assisted bystander CPR | 96 (77) | 107 (81) |
| Time from collapse to EMS arrival, median (IQR), min | 8 (7-11) | 9 (7-11) |
| Time from collapse to ACLS, median (IQR), min | 10 (7-13) | 11 (8-14) |
| Time to telephone-assisted CPR, median (IQR), min | 3 (2-5) | 2 (1-4) |
| Time from collapse to randomization, median (IQR), min | 24 (21-30) | 26 (19-31) |
| No. of prehospital epinephrine doses, median (IQR), mg | 4 (2-5) | 5 (3-7) |
| No. of prehospital defibrillation attempts, median (IQR) | 4 (2-6) | 4 (2-7) |
| Mechanical CPRd | 114 (92) | 104 (79) |
| Intermittent ROSCe | 41 (33) | 45 (34) |
| Hypothermia initiated in fieldf | 21 (17) | 12 (9) |
Abbreviations: ACLS, advanced cardiac life support; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation; EMS, emergency medical service; ICD, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator; ROSC, return of spontaneous circulation.
The information for several categories was obtained later during patient care from EMS, caregivers, relatives, and chart reviews and might not have been available to caregivers during initial treatment.
As determined by EMS.
High rate of bystander CPR consistent with generally high rate in Prague (>80%) as reported in a Eureca 2 study.27
Use of LUCAS device (Lund University Cardiac Arrest System; Physio-Control Inc/Jolife AB).
Defined as an unsustained palpable pulse with organized ECG rhythm.
Prehospital hypothermia provided by means of intranasal evaporative cooling was used in the invasive strategy group and those patients in the standard strategy group who crossed over to the invasive approach. This method became unavailable during the course of the study in 2016; therefore, the percentage of use is low.