In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, is the positioning of victims by bystanders adequate for CPR? A cohort study.

Objectives: Outcome from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) highly depends on bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with high-quality chest compressions (CCs). Precondition is a supine position of the victim on a firm surface. Until now, no study has systematically analysed whether bystanders of OHCA apply appropriate positions to victims and whether the position is associated with a particular outcome.

Perceptions of collapse and assessment of cardiac arrest by bystanders of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA).

Background: An important predictor of outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA) is bystander resuscitation, but in industrialised nations this is undertaken only in 15-50%. To explore reasons for this low response rate we analysed bystander perceptions during the victim's collapse, and methods used to assess cardiac arrest.

Methods: Over a 12-month period we prospectively investigated all dispatches for witnessed cardiac arrest of two physician-staffed emergency medical service (EMS) units within a western European metropolitan area (Berlin, Germany).

Antimanic efficacy of topiramate in 11 patients in an open trial with an on-off-on design.

Background: A series of open studies suggests that topiramate has efficacy in bipolar disorder. To further investigate the potential value of topiramate as an antimanic agent, we conducted an open trial in 11 manic patients.

Method: Eleven patients with bipolar I disorder with an acute manic episode (DSM-IV) were treated with a mood stabilizer and/or antipsychotics in sufficient and fixed doses.

An open longitudinal study of patients with bipolar rapid cycling treated with lithium or lamotrigine for mood stabilization.

Objectives: Patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder are frequently observed to fail conventional treatment. We conducted a preliminary study to explore the potential efficacy of lamotrigine in the treatment of this refractory patient population.

Methods: In an open longitudinal investigation, 14 patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder were treated for 1 year with either lithium or lamotrigine as mood stabilizer.