Prognostic value of signs of life throughout cardiopulmonary resuscitation for refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Purpose: Prognostication of refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is essential for selecting the population that may benefit from extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). We aimed to examine the prognostic value of signs of life before or throughout conventional CPR for individuals undergoing ECPR for refractory OHCA.

Methods: Pooling the original data from three cohort studies, we estimated the prevalence of signs of life, for individuals with refractory OHCA resuscitated with ECPR.