2009 Nov 12 – NEJM Correspondence: Neurologic Prognosis after Cardiac Arrest

NEJM. Volume 361:1999-2000 November 12, 2009 Number 20
To the Editor: We are concerned that Young (Aug. 6 issue)1 did not emphasize the considerable help provided by the clinical history in predicting the prognosis for a patient after cardiac arrest. Elements of the clinical history — such as the location of the arrest (home or outdoors), the presence or absence of witnesses, and the chronology (delays in delivery of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the first therapeutic shock) — are generally easy to collect and are strongly associated with outcomes.2,3 Therefore, such information may assist clinicians in making the difficult decision to withdraw life support. In these situations, it seems . . .


Weblink here