Non –communicable diseases (NCDs), primarily cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes, are significantly increasing globally. According to the WHO, cardiovascular diseases alone account for 17.5 million deaths annually- the most of any NCD.
If someone has return of spontaneous circulation after cardiac arrest, but does not have ST-elevations on their post-arrest ECG, should you emergently activate the cath lab?
In a just released systematic review and meta-analysis in Resuscitation, Dr. Millin and colleagues found that almost one third of patients successfully resuscitated without ST elevation on their ECG had a culprit lesion that would benefit from emergent intervention.
Bottom Line: While this is not definitive proof to emergently activate the cath lab for a NSTEMI, it is another strong indication that post cardiac arrest patients without ST elevation may benefit from emergent percutaneous coronary intervention.
Millin MG, Comer AC, Nable JV, Johnston PV, Lawner BJ, Woltman N, Levy MJ, Seaman KG, Hirshon JM. Patients without ST elevation after return of spontaneous circulation may benefit from emergent percutaneous intervention: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Resuscitation. 2016 Sep 15. pii: S0300-9572(16)30461-0. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2016.09.004. [Epub ahead of print]
