Management and Health Status in the First Year after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

The one-year survival, functional and cerebral capacity and patient management following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were examined in a follow-up study of 143 prospectively identified patients discharged from a West Yorkshire hospital between January 1987 and July 1993. One-year survival was 87%; 13 of the 18 deaths were cardiac related; 89% of survivors had no further cardiac related admissions; 98% of patients surviving to one year were capable of independent daily activities. There was low utilisation of simple drug therapy: 23% of patients were discharged taking beta-blockers and 52% aspirin; 50% of patients discharged after a primary arrhythmic event were taking antiarrhythmic therapy or were given an implantable defibrillator. Irrespective of the availability of invasive cardiac facilities, there was underutilisation of investigations: only 39% of patients were seen by a cardiologist and 54% were not evaluated for ischaemic risk. Significant improvements in patient management could probably be achieved quickly without substantial increases in resources.