Elderly patients account for 80% of cardiac arrest patients. The incidence of poor neurological prognosis after return of spontaneous circulation of these patients is as high as 90%, much higher than that of young. This is related to the fact that the mechanism of hippocampal brain tissue injury after ischemia-reperfusion in elderly cardiac arrest patients is aggravated. Therefore, this study reviews the possible mechanisms of poor neurological prognosis after return of spontaneous circulation in elderly cardiac arrest animals, and the results indicate that the decrease of hippocampal perfusion and the number of neurons after resuscitation are the main causes of the increased hippocampal injury, among which oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and protein homeostasis disorder are the important factors of cell death. This review hopes to provide new ideas for the treatment of elderly patients with cardiac arrest and the improvement of neurological function prognosis through the comparative analysis of elderly and young animals.
Poisoning is a frequent reason for patients to seek emergency medical attention, and in severe cases, it can result in severe cardiac disease or cardiac arrest. American Heart Association published the guideline for the management of patients with cardiac arrest or life-threatening toxicity due to poisoning in Circulation on September 18, 2023. Based on the literature, this article interprets the suggestions related to neurotoxic substances in this guideline, mainly involving the clinical management of benzodiazepines, opioids, cocaine, local anesthetics, and sympathomimetic substances poisoning. By interpreting the recommended points of the guide in detail, it is hoped that it will be helpful for the diagnosis and treatment of readers.
American Heart Association issued American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care in October 2020. A sixth link, recovery, has been added to both the adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest chain and in-hospital cardiac arrest chain in this version of the guidelines to emphasize the importance of recovery and survivorship for resuscitation outcomes. Analogous chains of survival have also been developed for adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and in-hospital cardiac arrest. The major new and updated recommendations involve the early initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation by lay rescuers, early administration of epinephrine, real-time audiovisual feedback, physiologic monitoring of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality, double sequential defibrillation not supported, intravenous access preferred over intraosseous, post-cardiac arrest care and neuroprognostication, care and support during recovery, debriefings for rescuers, and cardiac arrest in pregnancy. This present review aims to interpret these updates by reviewing the literature and comparing the recommendations in these guidelines with previous ones.