Going Silent: Redesigning the Activation Process for In-Hospital Cardiopulmonary Arrests.

INTRODUCTION: Reducing environmental noise has become a priority for many health systems. Following a 10-week preparation period, our health system transitioned from an overhead-activated to a silently activated in-hospital code team notification system. The goal of this initiative was to reduce environmental noise and support code team communication and function without adversely affecting response time, provider availability, or key quality metrics. METHODS: Transitioning from overhead to silently activated events involved a three-step quality improvement approach. Input from key stakeholders and preimplementation education were of key importance. Multiple timed trials and a full in situ simulation were completed before going live with the new process. RESULTS: Evaluation of 6-month pre- and postimplementation quality metrics showed no significant difference in compliance with defibrillating shockable rhythms within two minutes, event survival, or survival to discharge. Provider survey data and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems "quiet at night" scores were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: By utilizing a multistep implementation approach, transitioning from overhead pages to a silently activated system for in-hospital code team activation was feasible and safe. Abandoning the overhead paging system did not lead to a decrease in key quality metrics nor impair team perception of code function.

Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR) for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest due to Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia/Fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are very low and neurologic recovery is poor. Innovative strategies have been developed to improve outcomes. A collaborative extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) program for out-of-hospital refractory pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) and/or ventricular fibrillation (VF) has been developed between The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Columbus Division of Fire. METHODS: From August 15, 2017, to June 1, 2019, there were 86 patients that were evaluated in the field for cardiac arrest in which 42 (49%) had refractory pulseless VT and/or VF resulting from different underlying pathologies and were placed on an automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation device; from these 42 patients, 16 (38%) met final inclusion criteria for ECPR and were placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL). RESULTS: From the 16 patients who underwent ECPR, 4 (25%) survived to hospital discharge with cerebral perfusion category 1 or 2. Survivors tended to be younger (48.0 ± 16.7 vs. 59.3 ± 12.7 years); however, this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.28) likely due to a small number of patients. Overall, 38% of patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). No significant difference was found between survivors and nonsurvivors in emergency medical services dispatch to CCL arrival time, lactate in CCL, coronary artery disease severity, undergoing PCI, and pre-ECMO PaO2, pH, and hemoglobin. Recovery was seen in different underlying pathologies. CONCLUSION: ECPR for out-of-hospital refractory VT/VF cardiac arrest demonstrated encouraging outcomes. Younger patients may have a greater chance of survival, perhaps the need to be more aggressive in this subgroup of patients.

Recurrent Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection in 4 Vascular Territories.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection, a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome, is due to nonatherosclerotic coronary events and is probably underrecognized as a cause of myocardial infarction. The condition typically affects premenopausal women who are otherwise healthy. Among more than 1,200 reported cases, recurrent dissection has been described 63 times, and only 3 reports have documented multiple episodes of dissection involving different vascular territories. We present the case of a woman in her 30s who, over a 9-year period, presented 4 times with coronary dissection in different vascular territories. She was first treated conservatively, then with stents, and ultimately by means of coronary artery bypass grafting. In addition to this case, we discuss this rare condition and its management.

Rotational X-ray coronary angiography.

We designed and implemented a digital flat-panel-based rotational X-ray coronary angiography technique hypothesizing that luminal disease could be identified with less radiation exposure and contrast usage compared to conventional angiography. Individuals scheduled for diagnostic coronary angiography were prospectively enrolled. In addition to conventional acquisitions in standard planes, subjects underwent one additional left coronary artery (LCA) or right coronary artery (RCA) rotational (spin) acquisition using a predefined trajectory. Radiation exposure and contrast volume were recorded for each run. Seventy-five subjects were enrolled. When compared with standard five-view cine acquisition, LCA spin angiography with one cranial and one caudal run resulted in 34.38% +/- 13.65% less radiation, 18.98% +/- 4.97% less contrast, and comparable assessment of stenosis severity. One spin acquisition compared with three standard cine acquisitions for RCA angiography resulted in 59.31% +/- 29.07% lower radiation, no significant change in contrast, and comparable assessment of stenosis severity. Rotational X-ray coronary angiography provides comparable visualization of coronary anatomy compared with traditional nonrotational coronary angiography with significantly less radiation exposure and contrast volume.