Abstract 362: Early Signs of Life as a Prognostic Factor for Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Refractory Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Abstract

Introduction: After 20 to 30 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) without return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), cardiac arrest is considered as refractory (RCA). For RCA, extracorporeal CPR (ECPR) is one of the only treatments with a potential benefit on survival. Presence of gasping during CPR has been shown to be strongly associated with a favorable outcome. To our knowledge, signs of life during CPR (such as gasping, movements, pupillary response) has not been studied in the specific context of RCA treated with ECPR. Hypothesis: We assessed the relationship between survival with favorable neurologic outcomes and presence of early signs of life during or before CPR in RCA treated with ECPR. Methods: We carried out a multicenter observational study of patients with out-of-hospital RCA treated with ECPR in 3 cities in France. Primary outcome was favorable neurologic outcome at 30 days defined as CPC score ≤ 2. Signs of life were defined as gasping or recovery of normal breathing, any pupillary response or any movements during CPR. Patient selection for ECPR was decided according to french guidelines criteria such as initial rhythm, no-flow duration, expected transport time and EtCO2 > 10 mmHg. A logistic regression analysis was performed. P -values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Overall, 437 patients treated with ECPR were included with 71 (16%) patients with CPC ≤ 2 at 30 days. Signs of life were observed in 261 (59%) patients, with 136 (31%) patients presenting gasping or respiratory movement, 155 (35%) a pupillary response, and 49 (11%) movements during CPR. Overall 63/261 (24.1%) patients with signs life survived with favorable neurologic outcome vs. 8/176 (4.5%) without signs of life, p<0.0001. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with favorable outcome were: signs of life during CPR (OR 11.0, 95%CI 3.7-32.5; p<0.001), first recorded rhythm VF/VT (OR 3.4, 95%CI 1.3-8.9; P=0.011), low-flow duration per min (OR 0.99, 95%CI 0.98-1.00; p=0.032). Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of signs of life before or during CPR on neurological outcomes for RCA treated with ECPR. These results could help select patients with good chance of survival in whom we should not give up resuscitation efforts too soon.