Applying the algorithm for use of coronary angiography and chest and head computed tomography resulted in a diagnosis for nearly 60% of patients.
Although out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a common mode of death, the medical response is individualized, with few standardized protocols other than for therapeutic hypothermia. A Parisian hospital developed a protocol for diagnostic imaging of all OHCA cases, and these authors reviewed 10 years of experience with it.
The protocol involves first excluding patients who have an obvious cause of OHCA, such as trauma or drowning, or are too unstable for catheterization or computed tomography (CT) scanning. Then, for patients with return of spontaneous circulation, the protocol indicates CT scanning of the chest and brain if there were neurological or respiratory symptoms before the arrest and percutaneous coronary angiography (PTCA) if t…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals