How Unexpected Is Out-of-hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest? A Retrospective Cohort Study

BackgroundApproximately 100,000 patients suffer from sudden cardiac arrest (CA) annually in Germany. The causes for CA are cardiac in 75% of these cases. The present study aims to investigate the medical prehistory of patients who suffered from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in a town with 250,000 inhabitants during 5 years and how many of these patients had already been previously treated at the local cardiac arrest center (CAC).Case presentationAll resuscitations due to OHAC were retrospectively analyzed for the cause of OHCA, preexisting cardiac conditions and treatment, lay resuscitation, and outcome from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016, in Aachen, Germany. Data analysis was based on the resuscitation protocols and data from the CAC clinical information system. More than 50% of the patients with CA from cardiovascular origin were already known at the receiving respective CAC. Almost 60% of all patients already had cardiac preexisting conditions. Nevertheless, lay resuscitation occurred in only 34.1% of all cases. It was not performed in more than 60% although the probability of discharge can be significantly increased by lay resuscitation.ConclusionThe rate of lay resuscitation is relatively low although many patients suffering from CA have cardiac preexisting conditions. These findings show the importance of better priming their relatives for emergencies to improve lay resuscitation and improve the chances for a better outcome.