Étude de facteurs visant à favoriser l’intégration de la réanimation par circulation extracorporelle à l’arsenal de soins pour les patients souffrant d’un arrêt cardiorespiratoire extrahospitalier

Despite advances in medical care, survival amongst out of hospital cardiac arrest patients remains low, with only 10% of patients surviving. The use of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation, a novel resuscitation procedure, has recently garnered interest and showed promise to improve resuscitation outcomes. However, questions remain to be answered before this technology can be prospectively evaluated, notably regarding the collateral impacts of its implementation, appropriate patient selection and the monitoring strategies to use for these patients. The main objective of this thesis is to answer these questions to eventually improve the outcome of patients suffering from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. In the first part, the results of three cohort studies exploring the potential impact of the implementation of extracorporeal resuscitation on prehospital resuscitation protocols are presented. A first cohort study showed that the duration of prehospital advanced cardiac life support could be reduced to allow for an earlier transport to an extracorporeal resuscitation centre. A second cohort study showed that patients being transported to specialized resuscitation centres might have increased survival. This increase in survival would remain despite an additional 14 minutes of prehospital transport time due to the redirection. A third study showed that prehospital redirection could triple the number of patients who could benefit from extracorporeal resuscitation. In the second part, the results of two studies aiming to improve the selection of adequate patients for extracorporeal resuscitation are presented. A first cohort study showed that patients requiring more than 10 defibrillations still had an adequate chance at survival and should remain eligible for an extracorporeal resuscitation. A second cohort study showed that the initial rhythm was a much better prognosticating factor than subsequent rhythms. Patients with an initial non- shockable rhythm who experience a conversion to a shockable rhythm should not be considered first-line candidates for extracorporeal resuscitation. In the third part, three studies exploring the potential uses of near-infrared spectroscopy for the monitoring of extracorporeal resuscitation patients are presented. A systematic review was first performed and showed the prognosticating ability of this technology for patients suffering from a cardiac arrest. Then, using a prospective cohort, the metrological properties and their determinants of two frequently used near-infrared spectroscopy devices were described, in order to optimize their uses in the context of cardiac arrest. The knowledge acquired by the studies comprised in this thesis has already been integrated in protocols guiding the care for patients suffering from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and has laid the foundation for the prospective evaluation of extracorporeal resuscitation for this population, which will hopefully ultimately lead to improvement in their prognosis.

Keyphrases: pronostication, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, extracorporeal resuscitation, emergency medical services, prognostication, near-infrared spectroscopy