Outcome of in-hospital pediatric cardiopulmonary arrest from a single center in Pakistan

Objective: To review the incidence and outcome of in-hospital pediatric cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA). Methods: This retrospective six-year case series was carried out at the PICU and Pediatric Units of Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH). All children aged 1 month to 14 years who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation from January 2001 through December 2006 were included. Data were recorded according to the Utstein style. The outcome variables were sustained return of spontaneous circulation (initial survival) and hospital discharge (final survival). Factors associated with survival were evaluated using logistic regression analysis. Results: The incidence of CPA was 0.4% of all the admissions. Most of the CPR attempts took place in pediatric intensive care unit (53%) and the most frequent etiology was shock (78%). After initial CPR, the sustained return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 58 patients (55%). Only 12 patients (11%) were discharged alive from the hospital. The most common initial documented rhythm was bradycardia (78%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that prolonged duration of CPR (>20 min) was the best predictor of initial and final mortality (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The survival rate of in-hospital pediatric cardiopulmonary arrest in the present report is low.