TY - JOUR

T1 - Pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Denmark

AU - Holgersen, Mathias Geldermann

AU - Jensen, Theo W.

AU - Breindahl, Niklas

AU - Kjerulff, Julie L.B.

AU - Breindahl, Sara H.

AU - Blomberg, Stig Nikolaj Fasmer

AU - Wolthers, Signe Amalie

AU - Andersen, Lars Bredevang

AU - Torp-Pedersen, Christian

AU - Mikkelsen, Søren

AU - Lippert, Freddy

AU - Christensen, Helle Collatz

AU - Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry Group

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Background: Pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (POHCA) has received limited attention. All causes of POHCA and outcomes were examined during a 4-year period in a Danish nationwide register and prehospital medical records. The aim was to describe the incidence, reversible causes, and survival rates for POHCA in Denmark. Methods: This is a registry-based follow-up cohort study. All POHCA for a 4-year period (2016–2019) in Denmark were included. All prehospital medical records for the included subjects were reviewed manually by five independent raters establishing whether a presumed reversible cause could be assigned. Results: We identified 173 cases within the study period. The median incidence of POHCA in the population below 17 years of age was 4.2 per 100,000 persons at risk. We found a presumed reversible cause in 48.6% of cases, with hypoxia being the predominant cause of POHCA (42.2%). The thirty-day survival was 40%. Variations were seen across age groups, with the lowest survival rate in cases below 1 year of age. Defibrillators were used more frequently among survivors, with 16% of survivors defibrillated bystanders as opposed to 1.9% in non-survivors and 24% by EMS personnel as opposed to 7.8% in non-survivors. The differences in initial rhythm being shockable was 34% for survivors and 16% for non-survivors. Conclusion: We found pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrests was a rare event, with higher incidence and mortality in infants compared to other age groups of children. Use of defibrillators was disproportionally higher among survivors. Hypoxia was the most common presumed cause among all age groups.

AB - Background: Pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (POHCA) has received limited attention. All causes of POHCA and outcomes were examined during a 4-year period in a Danish nationwide register and prehospital medical records. The aim was to describe the incidence, reversible causes, and survival rates for POHCA in Denmark. Methods: This is a registry-based follow-up cohort study. All POHCA for a 4-year period (2016–2019) in Denmark were included. All prehospital medical records for the included subjects were reviewed manually by five independent raters establishing whether a presumed reversible cause could be assigned. Results: We identified 173 cases within the study period. The median incidence of POHCA in the population below 17 years of age was 4.2 per 100,000 persons at risk. We found a presumed reversible cause in 48.6% of cases, with hypoxia being the predominant cause of POHCA (42.2%). The thirty-day survival was 40%. Variations were seen across age groups, with the lowest survival rate in cases below 1 year of age. Defibrillators were used more frequently among survivors, with 16% of survivors defibrillated bystanders as opposed to 1.9% in non-survivors and 24% by EMS personnel as opposed to 7.8% in non-survivors. The differences in initial rhythm being shockable was 34% for survivors and 16% for non-survivors. Conclusion: We found pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrests was a rare event, with higher incidence and mortality in infants compared to other age groups of children. Use of defibrillators was disproportionally higher among survivors. Hypoxia was the most common presumed cause among all age groups.

U2 - 10.1186/s13049-022-01045-x

DO - 10.1186/s13049-022-01045-x

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36397074

AN - SCOPUS:85142186341

VL - 30

JO - Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine

JF - Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine

SN - 1757-7241

IS - 1

M1 - 58

ER -