Citation

McLaughlin AM, Hardt J, McKay AP, Fitzpatrick GJ, Donnelly MB. Ir. J. Med. Sci. 2009; 178(1): 29-33.

Affiliation

Department of Intensive Care, Adelaide&Meath Hospital incorporating The National Children's Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland, annemmclaughlin@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, General Publications)

DOI

10.1007/s11845-008-0242-z

PMID

18953626

Abstract

AIM: To assess the contribution of alcohol, drug abuse and suicide attempts to out of hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) who are admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: Retrospective review of all OHCA admitted to the ICU over a 2-year period. RESULTS: There were 26 OHCA. Six patients survived, all of whom had a cardiac aetiology for their arrest. Ten patients arrested due to external factors (drug misuse n = 4, alcohol excess n = 1, suicide attempts n = 4 and accidental choking n = 1). All of the patients who arrested secondary to external factors were young (37.2 +/- 13.58 years), 90% were male and all died in hospital. All of the cases of drug misuse involved cocaine. CONCLUSION: Alcohol, drug misuse and suicide attempts contribute significantly to the number of OHCA which are admitted to ICU. Moreover, cocaine usage has contributed to a number of OHCA in our study.

Language: en