Admission of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims to a high volume cardiac arrest center is linked to improved outcome

Aim: Cardiac arrest centers have been associated with improved outcome for patients after cardiac arrest. Aim of this study was to investigate the effect on outcome depending on admission to high-, medium- or low volume centers.

Methods: Analysis from a prospective, multicenter registry for out of hospital cardiac arrest patients treated by the emergency medical service of Vienna, Austria. The frequency of cardiac arrest patients admitted per center/year (low <50; medium 50-100; high >100) was correlated to favorable outcome (30-day survival with cerebral performance category of 1 or 2).

Results: Out of 2238 patients (years 2013-2015) with emergency medical service resuscitation, 861 (32% female, age 64 (51;73) years) were admitted to 7 different centers. Favorable outcome was achieved in 267 patients (31%). Survivors were younger (58 vs. 66 years; p<0.001), showed shockable initial heart rhythm more frequently (72 vs. 35%; p<0.001), had shorter CPR durations (22 vs. 29min; p<0.001) and were more likely to be treated in a high frequency center (OR 1.6; CI: 1.2-2.1; p=0.001). In multivariate analysis, age below 65 years (OR 15; CI: 3.3-271.4; p=0.001), shockable initial heart rhythm (OR 10.1; CI: 2.4-42.6; p=0.002), immediate bystander or emergency medical service CPR (OR 11.2; CI: 1.4-93.3; p=0.025) and admission to a center with a frequency of >100 OHCA patients/year (OR 5.2; CI: 1.2-21.7; p=0.025) was associated with favorable outcome.

Conclusions: High frequency of post-cardiac arrest treatment in a specialized center seems to be an independent predictor for favorable outcome in an unselected population of patients after out of hospital cardiac arrest.