Explore the vast range of titles available.

Among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and ventricular fibrillation, more than half present with refractory ventricular fibrillation unresponsive to initial standard advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) treatment. We did the first randomised clinical trial in the USA of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-facilitated resuscitation versus standard ACLS treatment in patients with OHCA and refractory ventricular fibrillation. For this phase 2, single centre, open-label, adaptive, safety and efficacy randomised clinical trial, we included adults aged 18–75 years presenting to the University of Minnesota Medical Center (MN, USA) with OHCA and refractory ventricular fibrillation, no return of spontaneous circulation after three shocks, automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation with a Lund University Cardiac Arrest System, and estimated transfer time shorter than 30 min. Patients were randomly assigned to early ECMO-facilitated resuscitation or standard ACLS treatment on hospital arrival by use of a secure schedule generated with permuted blocks of randomly varying block sizes. Allocation concealment was achieved by use of a randomisation schedule that required scratching off an opaque layer to reveal assignment. The primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge. Secondary outcomes were safety, survival, and functional assessment at hospital discharge and at 3 months and 6 months after discharge. All analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. The study qualified for exception from informed consent (21 Code of Federal Regulations 50.24). The ARREST trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03880565. Between Aug 8, 2019, and June 14, 2020, 36 patients were assessed for inclusion. After exclusion of six patients, 30 were randomly assigned to standard ACLS treatment (n=15) or to early ECMO-facilitated resuscitation (n=15). One patient in the ECMO-facilitated resuscitation group withdrew from the study before discharge. The mean age was 59 years (range 36–73), and 25 (83%) of 30 patients were men. Survival to hospital discharge was observed in one (7%) of 15 patients (95% credible interval 1·6–30·2) in the standard ACLS treatment group versus six (43%) of 14 patients (21·3–67·7) in the early ECMO-facilitated resuscitation group (risk difference 36·2%, 3·7–59·2; posterior probability of ECMO superiority 0·9861). The study was terminated at the first preplanned interim analysis by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute after unanimous recommendation from the Data Safety Monitoring Board after enrolling 30 patients because the posterior probability of ECMO superiority exceeded the prespecified monitoring boundary. Cumulative 6-month survival was significantly better in the early ECMO group than in the standard ACLS group. No unanticipated serious adverse events were observed. Early ECMO-facilitated resuscitation for patients with OHCA and refractory ventricular fibrillation significantly improved survival to hospital discharge compared with standard ACLS treatment. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

In a trial involving patients with refractory ventricular fibrillation, double sequential external defibrillation or vector-change defibrillation improved survival as compared with standard defibrillation.

Introduction Ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) are sometimes refractory to antiarrhythmic drugs and cardiac ablation. This study aimed to investigate catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) as antiarrhythmic strategy in refractory VA. Methods These are the first data from a pooled analysis of 13 cases from five large international centers (age 59.2 ± 14.4 years, all male) with CHF (ejection fraction 25.8 ± 10.1 %, NYHA class 2.6 ± 1) presented with refractory VA who underwent RDN. Ventricular arrhythmias, ICD therapies, clinical status, and blood pressure (BP) were evaluated before and 1–12 months after RDN. Results Within 4 weeks prior RDN, a median of 21 (interquartile range 10–30) ventricular tachycardia (VT) or fibrillation (VF) episodes occurred despite antiarrhythmic drugs and prior cardiac ablation. RDN was performed bilaterally with a total number of 12.5 ± 3.5 ablations and without peri-procedural complications. One and 3 months after RDN, VT/VF episodes were reduced to 2 (0–7) ( p  = 0.004) and 0 ( p  = 0.006), respectively. Four (31 %) and 11 (85 %) patients of these 13 patients were free from VA at 1 and 3 months. Although BP was low at baseline (116 ± 18/73 ± 13 mmHg), no significant changes of BP or NYHA class were observed after RDN. During follow-up, three patients died from non-rhythm-related causes. Conclusions In patients with CHF and refractory VA, RDN appears to be safe concerning peri-procedural complications and blood pressure changes, and is associated with a reduced arrhythmic burden.

In this trial, patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest received amiodarone, lidocaine, or placebo for shock-refractory ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia. There were no significant between-group differences in survival to hospital discharge. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is responsible for more than 300,000 deaths each year in North America. 1 Many out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are attributable to ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Although ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia is regarded as the most treatable presentation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest because of its responsiveness to shock, 2 most defibrillation attempts do not result in sustained return of spontaneous circulation. 3 Ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia commonly persists or recurs after shock, and there is a significant inverse relationship between the duration of ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia, or the frequency of acute recurrences, and . . .

In a randomized trial, patients with a history of myocardial infarction and spontaneous ventricular arrhythmia underwent defibrillator implantation with assignment to catheter ablation of arrhythmogenic tissue or no intervention. At 22 months, 12% of patients assigned to ablation and 33% of control patients had received appropriate defibrillator therapy at least once. Patients with a history of myocardial infarction and spontaneous ventricular arrhythmia underwent defibrillator implantation with assignment to catheter ablation or no intervention. At 22 months, 12% of patients assigned to ablation and 33% of control patients had received appropriate defibrillator therapy at least once. Patients with a history of myocardial infarction who survive a spontaneous episode of ventricular arrhythmia are at high risk for subsequent sudden death from recurrent ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. Implantable cardioverter–defibrillators (ICDs) decrease mortality and have therefore become the mainstay of treatment of these patients. 1 However, ICDs are not a cure for ventricular arrhythmias. Defibrillator discharges (shocks) for treatment of recurrent arrhythmias are painful, and syncope may occur before delivery of therapy. Clinically significant anxiety and depression as a result of recurrent ICD shocks may occur in more than 50% of patients. 2 – 4 Repeated ICD shocks within a short . . .

Background Cerebral hypoperfusion may aggravate neurological damage after cardiac arrest. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) provides information on cerebral oxygenation but its relevance during post-resuscitation care is undefined. We investigated whether cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO 2 ) measured with NIRS correlates with the serum concentration of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), a marker of neurological injury, and with clinical outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients. Methods We performed a post hoc analysis of a randomised clinical trial (COMACARE, NCT02698917) comparing two different levels of carbon dioxide, oxygen and arterial pressure after resuscitation from OHCA with ventricular fibrillation as the initial rhythm. We measured rSO 2 in 118 OHCA patients with NIRS during the first 36 h of intensive care. We determined the NSE concentrations from serum samples at 48 h after cardiac arrest and assessed neurological outcome with the Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) scale at 6 months. We evaluated the association between rSO 2 and serum NSE concentrations and the association between rSO 2 and good (CPC 1–2) and poor (CPC 3–5) neurological outcome. Results The median (inter-quartile range (IQR)) NSE concentration at 48 h was 17.5 (13.4–25.0) μg/l in patients with good neurological outcome and 35.2 (22.6–95.8) μg/l in those with poor outcome, p  < 0.001. We found no significant correlation between median rSO 2 and NSE at 48 h, r s  = − 0.08, p  = 0.392. The median (IQR) rSO 2 during the first 36 h of intensive care was 70.0% (63.5–77.0%) in patients with good outcome and 71.8% (63.3–74.0%) in patients with poor outcome, p  = 0.943. There was no significant association between rSO 2 over time and neurological outcome. In a binary logistic regression model, rSO 2 was not a statistically significant predictor of good neurological outcome (odds ratio 0.99, 95% confidence interval 0.94–1.04, p  = 0.635). Conclusions We found no association between cerebral oxygenation measured with NIRS and NSE concentrations or outcome in patients resuscitated from OHCA. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02698917 . Registered on 26 January 2016.

In a randomized trial, patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who received extracorporeal CPR and those who received conventional CPR had similar results for survival and favorable neurologic outcomes.

Active compression-decompression cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with decreased intrathoracic pressure in the decompression phase can lead to improved haemodynamics compared with standard CPR. We aimed to assess effectiveness and safety of this intervention on survival with favourable neurological function after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. In our randomised trial of 46 emergency medical service agencies (serving 2·3 million people) in urban, suburban, and rural areas of the USA, we assessed outcomes for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest according to Utstein guidelines. We provisionally enrolled patients to receive standard CPR or active compression-decompression CPR with augmented negative intrathoracic pressure (via an impedance-threshold device) with a computer-generated block randomisation weekly schedule in a one-to-one ratio. Adults (presumed age or age ≥18 years) who had a non-traumatic arrest of presumed cardiac cause and met initial and final selection criteria received designated CPR and were included in the final analyses. The primary endpoint was survival to hospital discharge with favourable neurological function (modified Rankin scale score of ≤3). All investigators apart from initial rescuers were masked to treatment group assignment. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00189423. 2470 provisionally enrolled patients were randomly allocated to treatment groups. 813 (68%) of 1201 patients assigned to the standard CPR group (controls) and 840 (66%) of 1269 assigned to intervention CPR received designated CPR and were included in the final analyses. 47 (6%) of 813 controls survived to hospital discharge with favourable neurological function compared with 75 (9%) of 840 patients in the intervention group (odds ratio 1·58, 95% CI 1·07–2·36; p=0·019]. 74 (9%) of 840 patients survived to 1 year in the intervention group compared with 48 (6%) of 813 controls (p=0·03), with equivalent cognitive skills, disability ratings, and emotional-psychological statuses in both groups. The overall major adverse event rate did not differ between groups, but more patients had pulmonary oedema in the intervention group (94 [11%] of 840) than did controls (62 [7%] of 813; p=0·015). On the basis of our findings showing increased effectiveness and generalisability of the study intervention, active compression-decompression CPR with augmentation of negative intrathoracic pressure should be considered as an alternative to standard CPR to increase long-term survival after cardiac arrest. US National Institutes of Health grant R44-HL065851-03, Advanced Circulatory Systems.

Management strategies for ventricular arrhythmias are guided by the risk of sudden death and severity of symptoms. Patients with a substantial risk of sudden death usually need an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Although ICDs effectively end most episodes of ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation and decrease mortality in specific populations of patients, they have inherent risks and limitations. Generally, antiarrhythmic drugs do not provide sufficient protection from sudden death, but do have a role in reducing arrhythmias that cause symptoms. Catheter ablation is likewise important for reducing the frequency of spontaneous arrhythmias and is curative for some patients, usually those with idiopathic arrhythmias and no heart disease. Arrhythmia surgery is now infrequent, offered by only a few specialised centres for refractory arrhythmias. Advances in understanding of genetic arrhythmia syndromes and in technology for mapping and ablation of ventricular arrhythmias, and enhanced algorithms in implantable devices for rhythm management, have contributed to improved outcomes.

Cardiac arrhythmia is a known manifestation of novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Herein, we describe the clinical course of an otherwise healthy patient who experienced persistent ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation which is believed to be directly related to inflammation, as opposed to acute myocardial injury or medications that can prolong the QT interval.