['Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is rapidly evolving as bailout option in patients with refractory cardiogenic shock after cardiovascular surgery (CV). Cardiac arrest represents a common and severe complication in the immediate post-operative phase. We therefore evaluated the impact of cardiac arrest at time of ECMO implantation on short- and long-term mortality in patients following CV surgery.', 'We included 385 patients undergoing veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy following CV surgery at a university-affiliated tertiary-care center into our single-center registry. Thirty patients underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) followed by immediate initiation of ECMO support. During a median follow-up time of 44 months (IQR 21-76 months), 68% of patients (n=262) died. We did not detect a significant impact of CPR during ECMO initiation on 30-day mortality (HR 1.04, 95%CI 0.89-1.83, P=0.86) as well as for long-term mortality (HR 1.01, 95%CI 0.63-1.61, P=0.97). Results were virtually unchanged for 30-day (HR 0.88, 95%CI 0.44-1.73, P=0.70) and long-term mortality (HR 0.93, 95%CI 0.54-1.60, P=0.79) after adjustment for age, sex, left ventricular ejection fraction, SAPS2 score, type of CV surgery, and year of study inclusion in order to unveil a potential negative confounding.'] Does cardiac arrest affect survival in post-operative cardiovascular surgery patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation?