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In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Common in Critically Ill With COVID-19

About half received cardiopulmonary resuscitation; only 12 percent receiving CPR survived to discharge

THURSDAY, Oct. 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For critically ill patients with COVID-19, in-hospital cardiac arrest is common and is associated with poor survival, according to a study published online Sept. 30 in The BMJ.

Salim S. Hayek, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues estimated the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes associated with in-hospital cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in critically ill adults with COVID-19 at 68 geographically diverse hospitals across the United States.

The researchers found that 14.0 percent of the 5,019 critically ill patients had in-hospital cardiac arrest, and of these patients, 57.1 percent received cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest were older, had more comorbidities, and were more likely to be admitted to a hospital with a small number of intensive care unit beds. Patients receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation were younger (mean age, 61 versus 67 years). Of those who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 12.0 percent survived to hospital discharge and 7.0 percent survived to hospital discharge with normal or mildly impaired neurological status. Survival to hospital discharge differed by age, with 21.2 and 2.9 percent of those aged younger than 45 years and age 80 years or older, respectively, surviving.

“Our study data could help inform patients, family members, and clinicians in complex decision making about patients with COVID-19 who are at risk of cardiac arrest or who have experienced cardiac arrest,” the authors write.

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