Cardiac Arrest News and Research

Latest Cardiac Arrest News and Research

Automated external defibrillators, reliability and clinical benefits

The FDA frequently issues safety advisories for automated external defibrillators and accessories, although the number of actual device malfunctions appears to be relatively small.

8 Aug 2006

When to stop resuscitation in cardiac arrest cases

According to a newly published report as many as two-thirds of cardiac arrest patients who are taken to hospitals by emergency medical technicians (EMT's) die despite efforts to revive them.

3 Aug 2006

Stress reactions and perceived difficulties of lay responders to a medical emergency

Even though they are trained in CPR, people hesitate to take action when an emergency unfolds in front of them. But the cause, a study has found, is more likely to be confusion than stress.

2 Aug 2006

Guideline helps predict outcome in comatose survivors after CPR

Certain tests can predict with great accuracy whether a person in a coma after CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) will have a poor outcome, according to new guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Jul 2006

BioTel system to test methods of improving cardiac arrest

UT Southwestern Medical Center is among 10 institutions selected to oversee innovative clinical trials designed to test life-saving interventions for critical trauma and sudden cardiac arrest.

11 Jul 2006

Thunderstorms plus mobile phones equal a dangerous combination

According to British doctors people who use mobile phones outdoors during a thunderstorm, put themselves at risk of being struck by lightning.

26 Jun 2006

Genetic testing helps diagnose Long QT syndrome

Long QT syndrome is an uncommon, and sometimes fatal, heart rhythm disorder that is often present from birth. It gets its name from the peculiar pattern of the electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) seen in people with the disease. It affects one in every 3,000 people in the United States.

16 Apr 2006

Angiotension-converting enzyme inhibitors may reduce cardiovascular risk

Angiotension-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, medications commonly used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure), may reduce cardiovascular risk and the risk of death in patients with coronary artery disease, according to a new analysis of previously conducted clinical trials reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

13 Apr 2006

Cardiocerebral resuscitation improves survival of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Survival rates following the most common form of cardiac arrest increased three-fold when emergency medical personnel used a new form of CPR developed at The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center.

13 Apr 2006

Cardiac resynchronization therapy devices during hospital stays linked to better outcomes

Placement of devices that synchronize the pumping chambers of the heart in patients while they're hospitalized for a congestive heart failure episode appears to lower patients' risk of death or rehospitalization during at least the next two to three months, new research suggests.

14 Mar 2006

Transplanting a pair of kidneys with limited function into one patient may offer one solution to short supply of donated kidneys

Transplanting a pair of kidneys with limited function into one patient can be just as successful as the standard procedure in which a patient receives a single kidney, according to new research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

13 Mar 2006

Artificial intelligence addresses the problem of confusing drug names

Was that Xanex or Xanax? Or maybe Zantac? If you're a health care professional you'd better know the difference--mistakes can be fatal.

7 Mar 2006

Study shows one third of candidates are unlikely to benefit from ICD

Last year, about 170,000 people in North America had devices surgically implanted to stop potentially fatal arrhythmias. For many, these were life-saving, but for others they were unnecessary, uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous.

7 Feb 2006

Acetazolamide improves central sleep apnea in heart failure

Since sleep apnea is associated with heart failure, patients who take a single dose of acetazolamide - a mild diuretic and respiratory stimulant - before going to bed exhibit less sleep apnea, improved blood oxygen levels and fewer daytime symptoms of sleepiness.

16 Jan 2006

Children more likely to survive in-hospital cardiac arrests than adults

Children are more likely to survive in-hospital cardiac arrests than adults and with appropriate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the survival rates for both children and adults are higher than previously thought.

5 Jan 2006

Dramatic changes in new CPR guidelines will simplify lifesaving measures

New emergency care guidelines include dramatic changes to CPR and emphasis on chest compressions, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, co-author of the 2005 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).

15 Dec 2005

Lay people can effectively use defibrillators to save the lives of cardiac arrest victims

The first large-scale study to see whether trained volunteers and lay people can use defibrillators to save the lives of cardiac arrest (CA) victims has concluded that their use by lay people is safe, and if the response time can be shortened to within eight minutes there is the potential to save the lives of 15 out of 100 people who collapse suddenly with CA.

5 Dec 2005

Change in CPR guidelines means more lives will be saved

According to the American Heart Association the new simpler guidelines for giving CPR to people suffering cardiac arrest, will be more effective in keeping the blood flowing to the heart, when people suffer a heart attack.

30 Nov 2005

Lowering of LDL level shows limited benefit for patients with previous heart attack

Patients who have had a heart attack and are treated with a high dose of a statin drug did not have significant reduction in the primary outcome of major cardiac events (coronary death, nonfatal acute heart attack, or cardiac arrest with resuscitation), but did appear to have reduced risk when certain secondary outcomes (composite end points of any coronary heart disease event) were examined, according to a study in the November 16 issue of JAMA.

26 Nov 2005