Therapeutic hypothermia: is it effective for non-VF/VT cardiac arrest?

Therapeutic hypothermia: is it effective for non-VF/VT cardiac arrest? Critical care, March 2013, 17: 215

Sandroni, C., et al.

http://ccforum.com/content/pdf/cc12524.pdf

Sudden cardiac death represents a major health problem. In adults, the prevalence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) attended by the emergency medical services (EMS) ranges from 52 to 112 per 100,000 person-years in developed countries, whereas the prevalence of adult in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) ranges from 1 to 5 per 1,000 patient admissions. Mortality from cardiac arrest exceeds 90 % in OHCA 
and 70 % in most studies on IHCA. Patients who have a shock able rhythm, i.e., ventricular fibrillation 
(VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT), on initial electrocardiogram (EKG) have a consistently higher 
survival than those whose initial cardiac rhythm is nonshockable, i.e., asystole or pulseless electrical activity 
(PEA).