Prognostic Indicators of Survival Following Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Patients With Cardiac Arrest

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) occurs approximately 200,000 times/yr in hospitals in the UnitedStates, with 18% of patients surviving to discharge. Just over half of these survivors are neurologically intact or with mild defiits at the time of discharge. Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders are used to withhold CPR from patients who are unlikely to benefi or for whom it is inconsistent with their treatment goals or personal preferences. It would be helpful to identify patients with a very low likelihood of survival to discharge neurologically intact or with mild defiits were they to experience cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA), so their physician can present the option of a DNR order. This information would also be useful anytime a patient raises the question of the likelihood of survival should they undergo CPA.The objective of this study was to determine key indicators for good outcome in patients with sudden cardiac arrest undergoing CPR and develop a prediction model to predict survival to hospital discharge in these patients.