Objective: To report survival outcomes and to identify factors associated with survival following extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for in-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest.
Design: Retrospective chart review, consecutive case series.
Main outcome measure: Survival to hospital discharge.
Results: During a 7-yr study period, there were 66 cardiac arrest events in 64 patients in which a child was cannulated for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during active cardiopulmonary resuscitation with chest compressions. A total of 33 of 66 events (50%) resulted in the child being decannulated and surviving at least 24 hrs; 21 of 64 (33%) children undergoing extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation survived to hospital discharge. A total of 19 of 43 children with isolated heart disease compared with two of 21 children with other medical conditions survived to hospital discharge (p <.01). Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category and Pediatric Overall Performance Category were determined for survivors >2 months old. Five of ten extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation survivors >2 months old had no change in Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category or Pediatric Overall Performance Category compared with admission. Three of six extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation patients who survived after receiving >60 mins of chest compressions before extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation had grossly intact neurologic function. During a 2-yr period in the same hospital, no patient who received >30 mins of cardiopulmonary resuscitation without extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation survived. In this case series, age, weight, or duration of chest compressions before extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation did not correlate with survival.
Conclusions: Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation can be used to successfully resuscitate selected children following refractory in-hospital cardiac arrest, and can be implemented during active cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Intact neurologic survival can sometimes be achieved, even when the duration of in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation is prolonged. In this series, children with isolated heart disease were more likely to survive following extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation than were children with other medical conditions.