DIFFERENCES IN CASE DEFINITIONS AS A CAUSE OF VARIATION IN REPORTED IN-HOSPITAL CPR SURVIVAL

To determine the effect of different case definitions on reported surv ival following in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest, the authors reviewe d the charts of 411 patients for whom a nurse completed a cardiac arre st form at a university hospital during a two-year period. Survival to discharge was 16.0% for patients who required basic cardiopulmonary r esuscitation (chest compression and pulmonary ventilation), 18.6% for patients who were pulseless and apneic, 23.0% for patients who were pu lseless or apneic, and 28.2% for all 411 patients for whom a cardiac a rrest form was completed. These results demonstrate that reported surv ival to discharge following in-hospital cardiac arrest varies widely d epending on the case definition that is used.