Postcardioplegia ventricular fibrillation: no impact on subsequent survival.

Objectives: At aortic declamping after cardioplegic cardiac arrest, the initial rhythm can be broadly classified as ventricular fibrillation (VF) or non-VF. VF can be treated with potassium-induced conversion and direct-current countershock is only applied if potassium treatment fails. We aimed to investigate whether there are any differences between these groups of patients in regard to outcomes.

Potassium-induced conversion of ventricular fibrillation after aortic declamping.

Objectives: The anti-fibrillatory effect of potassium is well recognized from experimental models. There have, however, been very few clinical reports on the use of potassium to convert ventricular fibrillation (VF) after cardioplegic arrest.

Methods: In total, 8465 adult patients undergoing cardiac operations on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and with cold antegrade crystalloid cardioplegic arrest were consecutively enrolled in a database.