The Value of Arterial Blood Gas Parameters for Prediction of Mortality in Survivors of Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest

• Published in: Journal of emergencies, trauma and shock trauma and shock, 2017-07, Vol.10 (3), p.134-139
• Main Authors: von Auenmueller, Katharina Isabel, Christ, Martin, Sasko, Benjamin Michel, Trappe, Hans-Joachim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 0974-2700; 0974-519X
• DOI: 10.4103/JETS.JETS_146_16

Sudden cardiac death is one of the leading causes of death in Europe, and early prognostication remains challenging. There is a lack of valid parameters for the prediction of survival after cardiac arrest. This study aims to investigate if arterial blood gas parameters correlate with mortality of patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. All patients who were admitted to our hospital after resuscitation following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2013, were included in this retrospective study. The patient's survival 5 days after resuscitation defined the study end-point. For the statistical analysis, the mean, standard deviation, Student's -test, Chi-square test, and logistic regression analyses were used (level of significance < 0.05). Arterial blood gas samples were taken from 170 patients. In particular, pH < 7.0 (odds ratio [OR]: 7.20; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.11-16.69; < 0.001) and lactate ≥ 5.0 mmol/L (OR: 6.79; 95% CI: 2.77-16.66; < 0.001) showed strong and independent correlations with mortality within the first 5 days after hospital admission. Our study results indicate that several arterial blood gas parameters correlate with mortality of patients after out-of-hospital resuscitation. The most relevant parameters are pH and lactate because they are strongly and independently associated with mortality within the first 5 days after resuscitation. Despite this correlation, none of these parameters by oneself is strong enough to allow an early prognostication. Still, these parameters can contribute as part of a multimodal approach to assessing the patients' prognosis.