Abstract 144: Good Neurological Survival After Cardiac Arrest with Initial Shockable Rhythm Increased Year by Year but with Unshockable Rhythm Did Not in Japan

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Backgrounds: Early good cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early defibrillation are essential for good neurological survival (GNS) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Both automated external defibrillator (AED) equipped in public place and CPR educated people in Japan have been increased. We hypothesized that GNS in patients resuscitated from initial shockable rhythm have been increasing in Japan and that GNS from initial unshockable rhythm might not. Methods and Results: From January 2005 through December 2012, we conducted a prospective, population-based, observational study involving the consecutive patients across Japan who had OHCA (n= 925,288). We identified 73,751 witnessed cardiogenic cardiac arrest with the age >18 years old and transported to hospitals within 60 minutes from the witness. Among them, 18,436 cases had the initial shockable rhythm of ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulsless ventricular tachycardia (VT) and 55,315 cases had the initial unshockable rhythm of pulseless electrical activity (PEA) or asystole (Asys). GNS was defined as cerebral performance category scale 1 or 2 one month after the arrest. Results were shown in the figure. Although the rate of increase in number of OHCA with unshockable arrest over the year was greater than that with shockable arrest, GNS ratio was increasing only in OHCA with shockable arrest. Conclusion: Good neurological survival resuscitated from initial arrest rhythm with VF/VT had been increasing year by year, but that with PEA/Asys was very low and not changed these 8 years in Japan. We need new strategy for those OHCA patients with initial unshockable rhythm.