Pneumonia Risk Increases After Therapeutic Hypothermia for Cardiac Arrest

Among 641 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, therapeutic hypothermia was the only independent risk factor for the development of early-onset pneumonia.

Therapeutic hypothermia is often used for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Might it play a role in the development of early-onset pneumonia, which is common in such individuals during the postresuscitation period?

To address this question, researchers performed a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients who were successfully resuscitated after OHCA and admitted to one of two Paris intensive care units (ICUs) between July 2002 and March 2008. The 641 patients who met study criteria were all orotracheally intubated and comatose on admission; 500 of them (78%) were treated with hypothermia.

Within 3 days after admission, pneumonia was diagnosed in 419 patients (65%), based on criteria including compatible clinical findi…

Reviewing Author

Neil M. Ampel, MD

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Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Pneumonia Risk Increases After Therapeutic Hypothermia for Cardiac Arrest

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Reviewing Author