Etiology and determinants of in-hospital survival in patients resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in an urban medical center

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of mortality globally. The goals of this study were to describe common causes of OHCA in an urban US medical center, identify predictive factors for survival, and to assess whether neurological status upon return of spontaneous circulation might be predictive of outcomes: 124 consecutive patients aged 18 years and older with OHCA admitted at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center were studied. All patients resuscitated in the field with return of spontaneous circulation then transferred to the emergency department were included. The Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) was evaluated immediately on hospital arrival. In the total group, 34% (42 of 124) were discharged alive. In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), 51% (20 of 39) were discharged alive versus 26% (22 of 85) of non-CAD patients (p \u3c0.01). Initial GCS ≥ 9 was highly predictive of survival: 94% (34 of 36) of patients with GCS ≥ 9 survived versus 9% (8 of 88) with GCS ≤ 8 (p \u3c0.0001). Defibrillation in the field was predictive of survival (chi-square = 7.81, p = 0.005). In the CAD group, all 16 patients with GCS ≥ 9 on presentation to the Emergency Department survived whereas all 13 with GCS ≤ 5 died (both p \u3c0.0001). In the non-CAD group, 18 of 20 patients with GCS ≥ 9 survived, whereas only 2 of 52 with GCS ≤ 5 survived (both p \u3c0.0001). Multivariate analysis by logistic regression showed that the strongest predictor of survival in the non-CAD subgroup was GCS (OR 0.27, CI 0.19 to 0.55, p \u3c0.001). In conclusion, the etiology of the OHCA, immediate neurologic status, and defibrillation in the field (suggesting presenting arrhythmia) were predictive of survival. Immediate neurological recovery (GCS ≥ 9) regardless of etiology was a strong predictor of survival to discharge. Additional predictive factors depend on the etiology of the OHCA event. These data suggest that these straightforward factors can be helpful in predicting outcome in patients resuscitated after OHCA