Ultrasound in Cardiac Arrest

The more you delve into cardiac arrest, the more it seems that delivering the essentials well is the key to great outcomes; timely recognition, high quality chest compressions with early and appropriate defibrillation.

But is ultrasound in cardiac arrest a layer that we should all be adding in as a standard. It holds the potential to not only prognose outcomes from cardiac arrest, both medical and traumatic, but also to add a level of diagnosis of potentially reversible causes.

In this podcast we chat through the evidence surrounding ultrasound in cardiac arrest and consider the practicalities of application during delivery of patient care.

Make sure to take a look at the references and resources below.

Enjoy!

Simon, Rob & James

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References

Out-of-Hospital Transesophageal Echocardiogram for Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation: The Initial Case. Mark A Merlin. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2020

Bedside focused echocardiography as predictor of survival in cardiac arrest patients: a systematic review. Lacey Blyth. Acad Emerg Med. 2012

Ultrasound use during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is associated with delays in chest compressions. Maite A Huis In ‘t Veld. Resuscitation. 2017

Focused echocardiographic evaluation in life support and peri-resuscitation of emergency patients: a prospective trial. Raoul Breitkreutz. Resuscitation. 2010

Point-of-care ultrasound use in patients with cardiac arrest is associated prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation pauses: A prospective cohort study. Eben J Clattenburg. Resuscitation. 2018

Implementation of the Cardiac Arrest Sonographic Assessment (CASA) protocol for patients with cardiac arrest is associated with shorter CPR pulse checks. Eben J Clattenburg. Resuscitation. 2018

Emergency department point-of-care ultrasound in out-of-hospital and in-ED cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. 2016 

Prognostic value of point-of-care ultrasound during cardiac arrest: a systematic review. Ilan Kedan. Cardiovascular Ultrasound. 2020

Introduction of paramedic led Echo in Life Support into the pre-hospital environment: The PUCA study. Matthew J Reed. Resuscitation. 2017

FAST ultrasound examination as a predictor of outcomes after resuscitative thoracotomy: a prospective evaluation. Kenji Inaba. Ann Surg. 2015 

Detection of Pulmonary Embolism During Cardiac Arrest-Ultrasonographic Findings Should Be Interpreted With Caution. Rasmus Aagaard. Crit Care Med. 2017

The Right Ventricle Is Dilated During Resuscitation From Cardiac Arrest Caused by Hypovolemia: A Porcine Ultrasound Study. Rasmus Aagaard. Crit Care Med. 2017

The incidence of pulmonary embolism in unexplained sudden cardiac arrest with pulseless electrical activity. K A Comess. Am J Med. 2000

Asphyxia causes ultrasonographic D-shaping of the left ventricle–an experimental porcine study. A H Sørensen. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2016

Ultrasound Podcast – Cardiac Arrest with Cian McDermott, Part 1

Ultrasound Podcast – Cardiac Arrest with Cian McDermott, Part 2