Background: Sudden cardiac arrest as a complication of neurologic disorders is rare, occasionally acute neurologic events present with cardiac arrest as initial manifestation.
Objective: Our aim was to describe neurologic disorders as a cause of cardiac arrest in order to enable better recognition.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed prospectively collected resuscitation data of all patients treated between 1991 and 2011 at the emergency department after cardiac arrest caused by a neurologic event, including diagnosis, therapy, and outcomes.
Results: Over 20 years, 154 patients suffered cardiac arrest as a result of a neurologic event. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest occurred in 126 (82%) patients, 78 (51%) were male, median age was 51 years (interquartile range 17 to 89 years). As initial electrocardiogram rhythm, pulseless electrical activity was found in 77 (50%) cases, asystole in 61 (40%), and ventricular fibrillation in 16 (10%) cases. The most common cause was subarachnoid hemorrhage in 74 (48%) patients, 33 (21%) patients had intracerebral hemorrhage, 23 (15%) had epileptic seizure, 11 (7%) had ischemic stroke, and 13 (8%) had other neurologic diseases. Return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 139 (90%) patients. Of these, 22 (14%) were alive at follow-up after 6 months, 14 (9%) with favorable neurologic outcome, 8 of these with epileptic seizure, and most of them with history of epilepsy.
Conclusions: Subarachnoidal hemorrhage is the leading neurologic cause of cardiac arrest. Most of the patients with cardiac arrest caused by neurologic disorder have a very poor prognosis.
Keywords: cardiac arrest; cause of death; intracerebral hemorrhage; stroke; subarachnoid hemorrhage.
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