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M Kuisma

Publications and source records attributed to M Kuisma.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Paediatric cardiac arrest and resuscitation provided by physician-staffed emergency care units.

BACKGROUND: Most paediatric cardiac arrest studies have been conducted in the USA, where paramedics provide prehospital emergency care. We wanted to study the outcome of paediatric cardiac arrest patients in an emergency medical system which is based on physician staffed emergency care units. METHODS: We analysed retrospectively the files of 100 prehospital cardiac arrest patients from Southern Finland during a 10-year study period. The patients were less than 16 years of age. RESULTS: Fifty patients were declared dead on the scene (DOS) without attempted resuscitation, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was initiated in 50 patients. The sudden infant death syndrome was the most common cause of arrest in the DOS patients (68%) as well as in those receiving CPR (36%). Asystole was the initial cardiac rhythm in 70% of the patients in whom CPR was attempted. Resuscitation was successful in 13 patients, 8 of whom were ultimately discharged. Six of the patients survived with mild or no disability and 4 of them had near-drowning aetiology. In multivariate analysis, the short duration of CPR (< or = 15 min) was the only factor significantly associated with better survival. CONCLUSIONS: Although prehospital care was provided by physicians, the overall rate of survival was found to be equally poor as reported from systems with paramedics. The only major difference between physician- and paramedic-staffed emergency care units is the ability of physicians to refrain from resuscitation already on the scene when prognosis is poor.

Adolescent↗

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Helsinki: Utstein style reporting.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the epidemiology of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and survival after resuscitation and to apply the Utstein style of reporting to data collection. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: A middle-sized urban city (population 516,000) served by a single emergency medical services system. PATIENTS: Consecutive prehospital cardiac arrests occurring between 1 January and 31 December 1994. INTERVENTION: Advanced cardiac life support according to the recommendations of American Heart Association. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Survival from cardiac arrest to hospital discharge, and factors associated with survival. RESULTS: Four hundred and twelve patients were considered for resuscitation. The overall incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was 79.8/100,000 inhabitants/year. Fifty seven patients (16.6%) survived to discharge when resuscitation was attempted. 32.5% survived when cardiac arrest was bystander witnessed and was of cardiac origin with ventricular fibrillation as the initial rhythm. When asystole or pulseless electrical activity was the first rhythm recorded, discharge rates were 6.2 and 2.7% respectively. The cause of cardiac arrest was cardiac in 66.5%, and ventricular fibrillation was the initial rhythm in 65.0% of bystander witnessed cardiac arrests of cardiac origin. 22.1% of patients received bystander initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The mean time intervals from the receipt of the call to the arrival of a first response advanced life support unit and mobile intensive care unit at the patient's side and to the return of spontaneous circulation were 7.0 and 10.3 and 12.6 and 16.7 min respectively. In the logistic regression model bystander witnessed arrest, age, ventricular fibrillation as initial rhythm, and the call-to-arrival interval of the first response unit were independent factors relating to survival. Utstein style reporting with modification of time zero was found to be an appropriate form of data collection in this emergency medical services system. CONCLUSIONS: After implementation of major changes in the emergency medical services system during the 1980s survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest markedly increased. However, early access, which has turned out to be the weakest link in the chain of survival, should receive major attention in the near future. Utstein style reporting with a modified time zero was found to be appropriate, although laborious, protocol for data collection.

Aged↗

Paediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrests--epidemiology and outcome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the epidemiology and aetiology of out-of-hospital paediatric cardiac arrest and the outcome of resuscitation and to apply the Utstein template for the paediatric cardiac arrest population. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: A middle-sized urban city (population 516,000) served by a single emergency medical services (EMS) system. PATIENTS: 79 consecutive paediatric (age under 16 years) prehospital cardiac arrest patients between January 1, 1985 and December 31, 1994. No patient was excluded. INTERVENTION: Advanced paediatric life support according to the recommendations of American Heart Association. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Survival from cardiac arrest to discharge and factors associated with favourable outcome defined as alive 1 year after discharge with Bloom category I or II. RESULTS: 79 patients had cardiac arrest. The incidence of paediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and sudden unexpected out-of-hospital death was 9.8 and 8.9/100,000/inhabitants aged under 16, respectively. The mean age was 2.9 years, 72.2% were under 18 months. SIDS was the leading cause of cardiac arrest followed by trauma, airway related cardiac arrest and (near)drowning. Fifty-two patients were considered for resuscitation in whom asystole was the most common initial rhythm (78.9%) followed by pulseless electrical activity (13.5%) and ventricular fibrillation (3.8%). Resuscitation was attempted in 34 patients. The overall survival rate was 9.6%, for attempted resuscitation 14.7%, for attempted resuscitation when cardiac arrest was witnessed 25.0% and for attempted resuscitation with witnessed arrest of cardiac origin 0%. Favourable outcome was registered in four of five survivors. Factors associated with favourable outcome were collapse in a public place, the near-drowning aetiology of arrest, bystander initiated CPR and short duration of resuscitation. Multivariate regression analysis showed no factor related to favourable outcome, but MICU time interval < 10 min was related with survival. Due to the retrospective nature of this study all core times could not be obtained. In spite of this, the Utstein template was applicable also in our paediatric cardiac arrest population. CONCLUSIONS: Survival from paediatric cardiac arrest has remained low. The overall survival rate was 9.6%, survival after attempted resuscitation 14.7% and 0% when resuscitation was attempted in witnessed arrest of cardiac origin. Asystole was the most common initial rhythm and the four leading causes for cardiac arrest were SIDS, trauma, airway related arrest and (near)drowning. The Utstein template adopted for adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrests was was found applicable also in paediatric cardiac arrests.

Adolescent↗

Propofol in prehospital treatment of convulsive status epilepticus.

We studied the safety and efficacy of intravenous propofol in the out-of-hospital treatment of convulsive status epilepticus (SE) in 8 patients (age 29-70 years), 4 of them with posttraumatic epilepsy. Four patients had no history of seizures. Convulsions ceased promptly after patients received a bolus of 100-200 mg propofol administered before hospital admission by staff of a mobile intensive care unit (ICU). The median duration of coma was 3 h 15 min (range 2-41 h), and the median duration of hospital treatment was 3 1/2 days (range 12 h to 23 days). Only 1 patient was admitted to the hospital's ICU. No adverse effects was observed except for a transient decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP). Propofol may be a useful drug for the prehospital treatment of recurrent seizures not responding to intravenous diazepam (DZP).

Adult↗