Research Highlights:
- People who experienced an in-hospital cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization lab were more likely to survive to discharge than those who had a cardiac arrest in the intensive care unit (ICU), yet less likely to survive than those who arrested in the operating room (OR).
- White people and people who suffered cardiac arrest during normal hours on weekdays were among those who were more likely to survive to hospital discharge after going into cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization lab.
Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021
(NewMediaWire) – November 08, 2021 – DALLAS – People who went into cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization lab were more likely to survive to hospital discharge than those who had a cardiac arrest in the intensive care unit (ICU), yet less likely to survive than those who had an arrest in the operating room (OR), according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium (ReSS) 2021. The meeting will be fully virtual Friday, November 12 through Sunday, November 14, 2021, in conjunction with the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2021, and features the most recent advances related to treating cardiopulmonary arrest and life-threatening traumatic injury.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart malfunctions and stops beating; it differs from a heart attack, which occurs when blood flow to the heart is blocked. While it often happens outside the hospital, cardiac arrest also occurs among hospitalized patients. An estimated 292,000 adults experience in-hospital cardiac arrest each year in the U.S., based on recent data from the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Resuscitation quality improvement program.
“Cardiac arrest while in the hospital cardiac catheterization laboratories is likely on the rise due to the increase in complex procedures being done on people at high risk for complications,” said study author Ahmed Elkaryoni, M.D., a cardiology fellow at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois. “There are, however, unanswered questions about cardiac arrest while in the cardiac catheterization lab, including how common it is compared to other areas of the hospital, characteristics of the cardiac arrest event and what the chances are of survival to discharge. In this study, we compared rates of survival to hospital discharge for people who had in-hospital cardiac arrest while in the cardiac catheterization lab, versus the OR and ICU.”
Researchers referred to the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines®-Resuscitation registry to identify adults ages 18 years and older who had an in-hospital cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization lab (cath lab), ICU or OR between 2000 and 2019.
The analysis found:
- Across 428 hospitals, 193,950 adults had an in-hospital cardiac arrest. Nearly 6,900 of those were in the cardiac catheterization lab; nearly 182,000 were in the ICU; and about 5,180 were in the OR.
- Overall, 38.1% of people who had in-hospital cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization lab survived to discharge, compared to 16.9% in the ICU and 40.5% of people who had a cardiac arrest while in the OR.
- Patients who survived a cardiac arrest in the cath lab were more likely to be younger, white adults; have their arrest during normal hours and on weekdays; and initially experience pulseless ventricular fibrillation, the most serious cardiac rhythm disturbance, while in cardiac arrest.
- Patients were less likely to survive to discharge after an in-hospital cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization lab if they had any of these factors: experienced a heart attack during this or a prior hospitalization; had low blood pressure, metabolic or electrolyte abnormalities, or respiratory insufficiency; or required mechanical ventilation.
“Our study shows that in-hospital cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization lab is not uncommon and has a slightly lower survival rate when compared with in-hospital cardiac arrest in the OR,” Elkaryoni said. “The reasons for this difference, however, deserve further study given that cardiac arrest in both settings is witnessed and response time should be similar.”
A study limitation is that while the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation quality improvement program is the largest nationwide multicenter registry detailing in-hospital cardiac arrest in the U.S., it represents only about 15% of all U.S. hospitals. Therefore, these findings may not be generalizable to hospitals not participating in the registry, Elkaryoni noted.
Co-authors are Andy T. Tran, D.O., M.S.; Amir Darki, M.D., M.Sc.; John J. Lopez, M.D.; and Paul S. Chan, M.D., M.Sc. Authors’ disclosures are listed in the abstract.
This study reported no funding sources.
Additional Resources:
Statements and conclusions of studies that are presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association’s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association’s overall financial information are available here.
The American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium 2021 (ReSS) is an international forum for fundamental, translational, clinical and population scientists and care professionals to discuss recent advances related to treating cardiopulmonary arrest and life-threatening traumatic injury. The fully virtual meeting is Friday-Sunday, Nov. 12-14, 2021, in conjunction with the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2021, and is of special interest to emergency physicians, trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, cardiologists, critical-care nurses, intensivists, emergency medical providers, resuscitation educators, and researchers with basic, bioengineering, clinical or other experience related to treatment of cardiac arrest and trauma. With a growing understanding of the shared pathophysiology between cardiac arrest and traumatic injury at multiple levels of biological organization, ReSS provides a unique opportunity for transdisciplinary interactions that rapidly translate advances in the resuscitation field from fundamental to translational to clinical to population science. The Resuscitation Science Symposium 2021 program is planned by the American Heart Association’s Council on Cardiopulmonary, Critical Care, Perioperative and Resuscitation. Follow the conference on Twitter at #ReSS21.
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