December 1, 2003
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Less Fatal With Rapid Intervention, Study Shows
INDIANAPOLIS - Forty-one Indiana sites and 663 volunteers trained by
the Indiana University School of Medicine have assisted with a North American
study showing that rapid access to defibrillation after cardiac arrest
saves lives.
The results from the largest clinical trial on the outcome of public
access to defibrillation (PAD) were presented in November at the American
Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions conference in Orlando,
Fla.
Nationwide, the PAD Trial showed that 29 victims survived sudden cardiac
arrest (SCA) when it occurred at a location where volunteers were trained
to call 911 and administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated
external defibrillator (AED) therapy. In contrast, 15 victims survived
SCA when initially treated by volunteers trained to call 911 and only
perform CPR.
Locally, Krannert Institute of Cardiology’s William Groh, M.D.,
associate professor of medicine, was the principal investigator of the
PAD trial.
Sudden cardiac arrest, often caused by a dangerously fast heart rhythm
called ventricular fibrillation, claims the lives of nearly 450,000 Americans
annually, and 95 percent of those who experience SCA do not survive.
The PAD Trial placed AEDs in public places, such as airports, supermarkets
and shopping malls, and trained employees in those locations to call 911
and administer CPR. A second group also was trained to perform AED therapy
in addition to CPR. AEDs are devices used to deliver an electric shock
to restore a regular rhythm after a cardiac arrest.
For every minute that passes without defibrillation after a person suffers
a cardiac arrest, his or her survival rate decreases by 10 percent, studies
show. Previous research on the use of AEDS on SCA victims has shown that
survival rates can be as high as 70 percent if defibrillation occurs in
the first three to five minutes following an episode.
The study’s main goal was to determine and compare the number of
SCA survivors at hospital discharge treated by the two different response
systems.
The PAD Trial trained about 20,000 volunteers at 24 sites in the United
States and Canada. Each site enrolled between 20 and 70 community locations
with a potential for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
There were 24 research groups in the United States and Canada participating
in the PAD Trial, which was sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and
Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health and the American
Heart Association, and was supported by Medtronic Physio-Control, a defibrillation
technology manufacturer.
For more information about sudden cardiac arrest and AEDs and how to
get involved, see www.aedhelp.com.
Krannert Institute of Cardiology is now involved in a “home version”
of the PAD trial. The Home AED Trial (HAT) places defibrillators in the
homes of patients who have had an anterior myocardial infarction, a medical
term for a heart attack in the front part of the heart.
The HAT study will seek to determine if use of an AED in residences will
decrease the likelihood of death from ventricular fibrillation. For additional
information on either study, contact Susan Bondurant at the Krannert Institute
at 317-962-0066, or sharker@iupui.edu.
# # #
Media Contact: Mary Hardin
317-274-7722
mhardin@iupui.edu
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