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Resuscitated from ventricular fibrillation. Should the cath lab be activated?

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

They started CPR. But cardiac arrest is a period of near zero flow in the coronary arteries and causes SEVERE ischemia. Smith's ECG Blog ( See My Comment in the March 1, 2023 post) — DSI does not indicate acute coronary occlusion! It also does not uniformly indicate severe coronary disease. He was defibrillated into VT.

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1 hour of CPR, then ECMO circulation, then successful defibrillation.

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

ECMO Flow was achieved after approximately 1 hour of high quality CPR. Angiography showed normal coronaries. MINOCA: Myocardial Infarction in the Absence of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease). Here is my comment on MINOCA: "Non-obstructive coronary disease" does not necessarily imply "no plaque rupture with thrombus."

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Texted from a former EM resident: 70 yo with syncope and hypotension, but no chest pain. Make their eyes roll!

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

Here is the case: Report from EMS was witnessed syncope, his son did CPR, but the patient had pulses when EMS arrived. The fact that this is syncope makes give it a far lower pretest probability than chest pain, but it was really more than syncope, as the patient actually underwent CPR and had hypotension on arrival of EMS.

EMS 108
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2023 AHA Update on ACLS

EMDocs

Emergent coronary angiography is not recommended over a delayed or selective strategy in patients with ROSC after cardiac arrest in the absence of ST-segment elevation, shock, electrical instability, signs of significant myocardial damage, and ongoing ischemia (Level 3: no benefit). COR 2b, LOE B-R. COR 2b, LOE C-LD. COR 1, LOE B-NR.

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SGEM#344: We Will…We Will Cath You – But should We After An OHCA Without ST Elevations?

The Skeptics' Guide to EM

The paramedics achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after CPR, advanced cardiac life support (ALCS), and Intubation. Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is responsible for the majority (60%) of all OHCAs in patients. EMS arrives and finds the patient in monomorphic ventricular tachycardic (VT) cardiac arrest.

EMR 130
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The CT FIRST Trial: Should We Pan-CT After ROSC?

REBEL EM

Indication for emergency invasive coronary angiography or had coronary angiography within 1 hour of arrival. Known obstructive coronary artery disease or known coronary stent. Bystander CPR, a known predictor of good outcomes, was more common in the SDCT cohort than in the standard care cohort.

Coronary 145
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VF arrest at home, no memory of chest pain. Angiography non-diagnostic. Does this patient need an ICD? You need all the ECGs to know for sure.

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

His daughter immediately started CPR and another family member called EMS. The patient was treated as possible NSTEMI and underwent coronary angiography about 4 hours after presentation. TIMI 3 means the rate of passage of dye through the coronary artery is normal by angiography.) Initial hsTnI was 384 ng/L.

Coronary 111