A sixteen-month prospective survey of in-hospital cardiac arrests indicated that of 168 patients who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 27(16%) survived to leave hospital. Ninety-three per cent of these patients were ambulant and 81 % were able to care for themselves.
Poorest outcome was associated with initial rhythm of asystole, prolonged resuscitation and arrest in the Intensive Care Units.
When compared with recent and past literature, these figures suggest that the incidence of successful outcome for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in hospitals has not changed significantly over the past twenty years.
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