Cardiac Arrest Registry at a Tertiary Center

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiac arrest, which may result in death without an effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), is the unexpected loss of cardiac functions. Sudden cardiac arrest is classified as in-hospital and out-of-hospital depending on the place where the event occurs. Patients and Methods: In this study, 134 patients (age, >18 years) who were admitted or were brought with the help of their relatives or in an ambulance and medical equipment to the Emergency Department of Kosuyolu Cardiac Hospital with the diagnosis of in-hospital or out-of-hospital cardiac arrest between 2013 and 2016 were enrolled. Demographic characteristics of the patients were obtained from the hospital database. Results: In total, 134 patients were included in this study. Of these, 95 (71%) were males and 39 (29%) were females. The mean patient age was 61.7 ± 14.6 years. In a total of 134 cardiac arrests, 58 were in-hospital and 76 were out-of-hospital. Among the patients who exhibited electrical activity with pulse after CPR, 35 (64.8%) experienced in-hospital cardiac arrest and 19 (35.2%) experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, whereas among the patients who exhibited pulseless electrical activity after CPR, 23 (28.7%) experienced in-hospital cardiac arrest and 57 (71.2%) experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (p< 0.001). Conclusion: The most common cause of cardiac arrest in our study cohort was myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation, followed by congestive heart failure and indefinite causes. Asystole was the most common rhythm at admission. The rate of ventricular fibrillation detected in the returning group was found to be higher than the non-returning group and the difference was statistically significant (p< 0.001). Similary to literature in our study, pulsatile electrical rhythm was found to be more prominent in pulsatile rhythms.