Abstract
INTRODUCTION: There are substantial differences in long-term survival of patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and the level of care during hospitalization may be a contributing factor. The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference in long-term prognosis between hospitals could be detected in patients surviving cardiac arrest in Copenhagen. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The mobile emergency care unit attempted resuscitation in 1,098 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the period 2002 to 2006, among whom return of spontaneous circulation occurred in 336 (30%) of the patients admitted to hospital. Survival was determined using the Central Population Registry through Statistics Denmark. RESULTS: Patients admitted to a tertiary facility were younger, more frequently male, they had more commonly ventricular fibrillation/pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VF/pVT) as their initial rhythm, and they had more frequently received bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Survival at 4.6 years was 41% in patients admitted to the tertiary hospital and 10% in patients admitted to other hospitals, p < 0.0001. After adjustment for other known risk factors, patients admitted to other hospitals had a hazard ratio of 1.8 for death (95% confidence interval: 1,4-2,5) compared with patients admitted to a tertiary facility. CONCLUSION: The survival rate after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was significantly higher in patients admitted to a tertiary facility than among patients admitted to less specialized hospitals. Further studies are needed to identify causal factors.
Udgivelsesdato: 2009-Jun-22
Udgivelsesdato: 2009-Jun-22
Translated title of the contribution | Differences between hospitals in prognosis after resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients |
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Original language | Danish |
Journal | Ugeskrift for læger |
Volume | 171 |
Issue number | 26 |
Pages (from-to) | 2169-73 |
Number of pages | 5 |
ISSN | 0041-5782 |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |