Epinephrine and Outcome after Cardiac Arrest
Authors: Robert E. Fromm
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1999)

Letters1 June 1999Epinephrine and Outcome after Cardiac ArrestRobert E. Fromm Jr., MD, MPH and Joseph Varon, MDRobert E. Fromm Jr., MD, MPHBaylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX 77030 (Fromm)Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX 77030 (Varon)Search for more papers by this author and Joseph Varon, MDBaylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX 77030 (Fromm)Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX 77030 (Varon)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-130-11-199906010-00008 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We commend Behringer and colleagues (1) for their attempt to resolve an important issue: the dose and role of epinephrine in cardiac arrest.The authors performed a retrospective cohort study. Caution must be exercised in generalizing their results, and we must consider their methods. First, the sample was a select group composed of patients with witnessed ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest that was unresponsive to 3 minutes of resuscitative efforts after initial defibrillation. In addition, the practitioners attending these patients did not seem to follow a standardized resuscitation algorithm. These deficiencies alone raise questions about the authors' conclusions.... References1. Behringer W, Kittler H, Sterz F, Domanovits H, Schoerkhuber W, Holzer M, et al . Cumulative epinephrine dose during cardiopulmonary resuscitation and neurologic outcome. Ann Intern Med. 1998;129:450-6. LinkGoogle Scholar2. Varon J, Fromm RE. In-hospital resuscitation among the elderly: substantial survival to hospital discharge. Am J Emerg Med. 1996;14:130-2. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Varon J, Marik P. Cardiac arrest in the elderly: CPR or no CPR, that is the question! Chest. 1997;112:1147-8. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Martens PR, Mullie A, Calle P, Van Hoeyweghen R. Influence on outcome after cardiac arrest of time elapsed for help and start of bystander basic CPR. The Belgian Cerebral Resuscitation Group. Resuscitation. 1993;25:227-34. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX 77030 (Fromm)Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX 77030 (Varon) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoCumulative Epinephrine Dose during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Neurologic Outcome Wilhelm Behringer , Harald Kittler , Fritz Sterz , Hans Domanovits , Waltraud Schoerkhuber , Michael Holzer , Marcus Mullner , and Anton N. Laggner Electronic Patient–Physician Communication Kenneth D. Mandl and Isaac S. Kohane Treatment of the Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome with Terbutaline and Theophylline: A Case Series Naeem K. Tahirkheli and Philip R. Greipp Metrics 1 June 1999Volume 130, Issue 11Page: 942KeywordsAlgorithmsCardiopulmonary resuscitationCohort studiesEpinephrineHeartRandomized trialsResearch designResuscitationVentricular fibrillation Issue Published: 1 June 1999 CopyrightCopyright © 1999 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...