Outcomes of In-Hospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Morbidly Obese Patients

Barriers and facilitators to cardiopulmonary resuscitation within pre-hospital emergency medical services: a qualitative study

Background

Out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest is a common and fatal problem. Rescuing patients with this problem by pre-hospital emergency medical services is associated with various barriers and facilitators. Identifying these barriers as well as the facilitators in a qualitative and an information-rich way will help to improve the quality of performing the maneuver and to increase the patients’ survival. Therefore, the current study was qualitatively conducted with the aim of identifying the factors affecting the cardiopulmonary resuscitation within the pre-hospital emergency medical services.

Methods

This qualitative study was conducted using a content analysis approach in Iran in 2021. The participants were 16 Iranian emergency medical technicians who were selected through a purposive sampling method. For data collection, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted. For data analysis, the Elo and Kyngäs method was applied.

Results

The mean participants’ age was 33.06 ± 7.85 years, and their mean work experience was 10.62 ± 6.63 years. The collected information was categorized into one main category called “complex context of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation” and 5 general categories with 17 subcategories. These categories and subcategories include patient condition (patient’s underlying diseases, age, high weight, number of children, and place of living), dominant atmosphere in companions at home (companions’ feeling of agitation, companions doing harm, and companions helping), policy (educational policy, human resource policy, up-to-date equipment and technology, and do-not-resuscitate policy), performance of the out-of-organizational system (disorganization in the patient handover process, and cooperation of the support organizations), and conditions related to the treatment team (conscience, cultural dominance, and shift burden).

Conclusions

The results showed that the conditions related to the patient and his/her companions, as well as the organizational factors such as the policies and the out-of-organizational factors act as the barriers and the facilitators to the cardiopulmonary resuscitation within pre-hospital emergency medical services. Therefore, the barriers can be modified and the facilitators can be enhanced by taking various measures such as educating, human resource policy-making, upgrading the equipment, and considering appropriate management policies.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12873-021-00514-3.

Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

The global obesity epidemic is well established, with increases in obesity prevalence for most countries since the 1980s. Obesity contributes directly to incident cardiovascular risk factors, including dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and sleep disorders. Obesity also leads to the development of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease mortality independently of other cardiovascular risk factors. More recent data highlight abdominal obesity, as determined by waist circumference, as a cardiovascular disease risk marker that is independent of body mass index. There have also been significant advances in imaging modalities for characterizing body composition, including visceral adiposity. Studies that quantify fat depots, including ectopic fat, support excess visceral adiposity as an independent indicator of poor cardiovascular outcomes. Lifestyle modification and subsequent weight loss improve both metabolic syndrome and associated systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. However, clinical trials of medical weight loss have not demonstrated a reduction in coronary artery disease rates. In contrast, prospective studies comparing patients undergoing bariatric surgery with nonsurgical patients with obesity have shown reduced coronary artery disease risk with surgery. In this statement, we summarize the impact of obesity on the diagnosis, clinical management, and outcomes of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and arrhythmias, especially sudden cardiac death and atrial fibrillation. In particular, we examine the influence of obesity on noninvasive and invasive diagnostic procedures for coronary artery disease. Moreover, we review the impact of obesity on cardiac function and outcomes related to heart failure with reduced and preserved ejection fraction. Finally, we describe the effects of lifestyle and surgical weight loss interventions on outcomes related to coronary artery disease, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation.

A simple ABCD score to stratify patients with respect to the probability of survival following in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation

BACKGROUND

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is occurring more frequently at community hospitals but most patients undergoing CPR do not survive to discharge. Tools to predict CPR survival can be improved by the identification of high-yield clinical indicators.

OBJECTIVE

To identify variables associated with survival to discharge following in-hospital cardiac arrest.

METHODS

Retrospective cohort study of 463,530 hospital admissions from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2012-2016). The analysis includes adults (age ≥50) who underwent in-hospital CPR at US community hospitals.

RESULTS

Overall survival to discharge was 29.8% (95% CI: 29.5-30.1%). Age was the strongest predictor of survival and had greater prognostic value than the Charlson comorbidity index. Obesity was associated with improved survival (35.9%, 95% CI: 35.1-36.7%), whereas underweight patients had decreased survival (24.0%, 95% CI: 22.2-25.7%). Acute indicators of poor survival included hyperkalemia, hypercalcemia, and sepsis. We generated an ABCD index based upon four high-yield variables (age, body habitus, comorbidity, day of hospital admission). An ABCD score of 2 or less was a sensitive but non-specific predictor of post-CPR survival (96.8% sensitivity, 95% CI: 96.6-97.0), and those with extreme scores differed 3.8-fold with respect to post-CPR survival probability (46.0% versus 12.1%).

CONCLUSION

Age is the strongest predictor of post-CPR survival, but body habitus is also an important indicator that may currently be underutilized. Our results support improved post-CPR survival of obese patients, consistent with an 'obesity paradox'. The ABCD score provides an efficient means of risk-stratifying patients and can be calculated in less than 1 minute.

A review of ECMO for cardiac arrest

Cardiac arrest is an important public health concern, affecting an estimated 356,500 people in the out-of-hospital setting and 209,000 people in the in-hospital setting each year. The causes of cardiac arrest include acute coronary syndromes, pulmonary embolism, dyskalemia, respiratory failure, hypovolemia, sepsis, and poisoning among many others. In order to tackle the enormous issue of high mortality among sufferers of cardiac arrest, ongoing research has been seeking improved treatment protocols and novel therapies. One of the mechanical devices that has been increasingly utilized for cardiac arrest is venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). Presently there is only one published randomized controlled trial examining the use of VA-ECMO as part of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a process referred to as extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). Recently there has been significant progress in providing ECPR for refractory cardiac arrest patients. This narrative review seeks to outline the use of ECPR for both in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, as well as provide information on the expected outcomes associated with its use.

The Crashing Obese Patient

The obesity pandemic now affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. As obesity rates continue to increase, emergency physicians are called on with increasing frequency to resuscitate obese patients. This article discusses important anatomic, physiologic, and practical challenges imposed by obesity on resuscitative care. Impacts on hemodynamic monitoring, airway and ventilator management, and pharmacologic therapy are discussed. Finally, several important clinical scenarios (trauma, cardiac arrest, and sepsis), in which alterations to standard treatments may benefit obese patients, are highlighted.

Obesity Phenotypes, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Diseases

This review addresses the interplay between obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases. It is proposed that obesity, generally defined by an excess of body fat causing prejudice to health, can no longer be evaluated solely by the body mass index (expressed in kg/m²) because it represents a heterogeneous entity. For instance, several cardiometabolic imaging studies have shown that some individuals who have a normal weight or who are overweight are at high risk if they have an excess of visceral adipose tissue-a condition often accompanied by accumulation of fat in normally lean tissues (ectopic fat deposition in liver, heart, skeletal muscle, etc). On the other hand, individuals who are overweight or obese can nevertheless be at much lower risk than expected when faced with excess energy intake if they have the ability to expand their subcutaneous adipose tissue mass, particularly in the gluteal-femoral area. Hence, excessive amounts of visceral adipose tissue and of ectopic fat largely define the cardiovascular disease risk of overweight and moderate obesity. There is also a rapidly expanding subgroup of patients characterized by a high accumulation of body fat (severe obesity). Severe obesity is characterized by specific additional cardiovascular health issues that should receive attention. Because of the difficulties of normalizing body fat content in patients with severe obesity, more aggressive treatments have been studied in this subgroup of individuals such as obesity surgery, also referred to as metabolic surgery. On the basis of the above, we propose that we should refer to obesities rather than obesity.

In-Hospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation of Patients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection: A Population-Based Cohort Study of Epidemiology and Outcomes

Background

Marked improvements were realized in both short-term and long-term outcomes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients following the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy. However, the contemporary population-level patterns of in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the outcomes of HIV-infected patients were not systematically examined.

Methods

We used the Texas Inpatient Public Use Data File to identify hospitalizations aged ≥ 18 years with and without HIV during 2009 - 2014, and those in each group who have undergone in-hospital CPR. Short-term survival (defined as absence of hospital mortality or discharge to hospice) following in-hospital CPR was examined. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to assess the prognostic impact of HIV infection following in-hospital CPR and predictors of short-term survival among HIV hospitalizations.

Results

In-hospital CPR was reported in 437 and 54,135 hospitalizations with and without HIV, respectively. The rates of in-hospital CPR (per 1,000 hospitalizations) were 4.4 and 4.1 among hospitalizations with and without HIV, respectively (P = 0.1659). The corresponding rates of in-hospital CPR among decedents were 11% and 11.8%, respectively (P = 0.1531). Crude short-term survival following in-hospital CPR among hospitalizations with and without HIV was 19% and 26.8%, respectively (P = 0.0003). The corresponding adjusted short-term survival between 2009 and 2014 rose from 14.2% to 27% (P = 0.0009 for trend) and from 25.5% to 28% (P < 0.0001 for trend). HIV infection was associated with lower odds of short-term survival following in-hospital CPR (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.50, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.39 - 0.65). Select comorbid conditions (congestive heart failure, aOR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.20 - 2.46; cerebrovascular disease, aOR: 2.08, 95% CI: 1.15 - 3.75; and diabetes, aOR: 1.53, 95% CI 1.31 - 4.71) were the only independent predictors of short-term survival following in-hospital CPR among HIV hospitalizations.

Conclusions

The rates of in-hospital CPR were similar among hospitalizations with and without HIV infection, with similar level of selectivity among decedents. Although HIV infection was associated with lower short-term survival following in-hospital CPR for the whole cohort, a dramatic improvement was observed during the study period among affected patients, with short-term survival rates becoming near-similar to those without HIV. Further studies are needed to identify modifiable factors to further improve the outcomes following in-hospital CPR among patients with HIV infection.

In-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation of patients with cirrhosis: A population-based analysis

Objective

To examine the epidemiology and outcomes of in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among patients with cirrhosis.

Methods

We used the Texas Inpatient Public Use Data File to identify hospitalizations aged ≥ 18 years with and without cirrhosis during 2009–2014 and those in each group who have undergone in-hospital CPR. Short-term survival (defined as absence of hospital mortality or discharge to hospice) following in-hospital CPR was examined. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to assess the prognostic impact of cirrhosis following in-hospital CPR and predictors of short-term survival among cirrhosis hospitalizations.

Results

In-hospital CPR was reported in 2,511 and 51,969 hospitalizations with and without cirrhosis, respectively. The rate of in-hospital CPR (per 1,000 hospitalizations) was 7.6 and 4.0 among hospitalizations with and without cirrhosis, respectively. The corresponding rate of in-hospital CPR among decedents was 10.7% and 13.4%, respectively. Short-term survival following in-hospital CPR among hospitalizations with and without cirrhosis was 14.9% and 27.3%, respectively, and remained unchanged over time on adjusted analyses among the former (p = 0.1753), while increasing among the latter (p = 0.0404). Cirrhosis was associated with lower odds of short-term survival following in-hospital CPR (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.55 [95% CI: 0.49–0.62]). Lack of health insurance (vs. Medicare) (aOR] 0.47 [95% CI: 0.34–0.67]) and sepsis ([aOR] 0.67 [95% CI: 0.53–85]) were associated with lower odds of short-term survival following in-hospital CPR among cirrhosis hospitalizations.

Conclusions

The rate of in-hospital CPR was nearly 2-fold higher among hospitalizations with cirrhosis than among those without it, though it was used more selectively among the former. Short-term survival following in-hospital CPR remained markedly lower among cirrhosis hospitalizations, while progressively improving among those without cirrhosis. Strategies to increase access to health insurance and improve early identification and control of infection should be explored in future preventive and interventional efforts.

The Cardiac Risk Factors of Coronary Artery Disease and its relationship with Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Cardiovascular diseases are considered as the most prevalent serious disease in developed countries, and act as the number one cause of death among men and women in all ages and from all races.

AIM

The present research aims at determining the relationship between risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and consequences of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

METHODS

The present study is a retrospective analytic-cross sectional research performed on 100 patients in need for CPR (successful and unsuccessful) during March 2017 - June 2017. As research instrument, a pre-designed checklist was used including demographic information, clinical and medical information, and the information related to modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.

RESULTS

Obtained results indicated that, 57.1% of the successful CPR cases were administered on men, while 55.1% of unsuccessful CPR cases were administered on women. The patients diagnosed with myocardial infarction were in further need for CPR (rate of successful CPR: 66.7%, and rate of unsuccessful CPR: 61.9%). Significant associations were found between CPR duration, post-CPR survival time (survival time after CPR), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride level, diabetes, fasting blood sugar level, and body mass index, in one hand, and type of CPR, on the other hand (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Results of the present research showed that, there is a significant relationship between modifiable risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and consequences of CPR.