Sonny Dhanani1, Laura Hornby1, Amanda van Beinum1, Nathan B Scales1, Melanie Hogue1, Andrew Baker1, Stephen Beed1, J Gordon Boyd1, Jennifer A Chandler1, Michaël Chassé1, Frederick D'Aragon1, Cameron Dezfulian1, Christopher J Doig1, Frantisek Duska1, Jan O Friedrich1, Dale Gardiner1, Teneille Gofton1, Dan Harvey1, Christophe Herry1, George Isac1, Andreas H Kramer1, Demetrios J Kutsogiannis1, David M Maslove1, Maureen Meade1, Sangeeta Mehta1, Laveena Munshi1, Loretta Norton1, Giuseppe Pagliarello1, Tim Ramsay1, Katerina Rusinova1, Damon Scales1, Matous Schmidt1, Andrew Seely1, Jason Shahin1, Marat Slessarev1, Derek So1, Heather Talbot1, Walther N K A van Mook1, Petr Waldauf1, Matthew Weiss1, Jentina T Wind1, Sam D Shemie1. 1. From the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (S.D.), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute (S.D., L.H., A. van Beinum, M.H., H.T.), Faculty of Medicine (S.D.) and Centre for Health Law, Policy, and Ethics (J.A.C.), University of Ottawa, Canadian Blood Services (L.H., S.D.S.), Carleton University (A. van Beinum), the Dynamical Analysis Lab (N.B.S., C.H., A.S.), Clinical Epidemiology Program (N.B.S., C.H., A.S.), and Clinical Epidemiology Program Methods Centre (T.R.), Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the Departments of Critical Care and General Surgery (G.P.) and Surgery (A.S.) and Division of Thoracic Surgery (A.S.), Ottawa Hospital, and Interventional Cardiology Program, University of Ottawa Heart Institute (D. So), Ottawa, the Department of Critical Care, Trauma and Neurosurgery Program, St. Michael's Hospital (A. Baker), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Unity Health-St. Michael's Hospital (J.O.F., D. Scales), University of Toronto (J.O.F.), Mount Sinai Hospital (S.M., L.M.) and Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine (S.M., L.M., D. Scales), University of Toronto, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (D. Scales), and the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (H.T.), Toronto, the Departments of Critical Care and Anesthesia, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS (S.B.), the Departments of Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON (J.G.B., D.M.M.), the Department of Medicine (Critical Care), Research Centre of the University of Montreal Hospital (M.C.), the Department of Critical Care, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, McGill University (J.S.), McGill University Health Centre and Research Institute (J.S., S.D.S.), Transplant Québec (M.W.), and the Division of Critical Care, Montreal Children's Hospital (S.D.S.), Montreal, the Department of Anesthesiology, Université de Sherbrooke and Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC (F. D'Aragon), the Departments of Critical Care Medicine, Community Health Sciences, and Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine (C.J.D.), and the Departments of Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences (A.H.K.), University of Calgary, and Calgary Zone, Alberta Health Services (C.J.D.), Calgary, the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, London Health Sciences Centre (T.G.), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry (T.G.), the Department of Psychology, King's University College (L.N.), and the Department of Medicine and the Brain and Mind Institute (M. Slessarev), Western University, London, ON, the Division of Critical Care, Departments of Medicine and Anesthesia, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (G.I.), the Department of Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton (D.J.K.), the Department of Medicine, McMaster University, and Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, Hamilton, ON (M.M.), and the Division of Pediatric Intensive Care, CHU de Québec, Centre Mère-Enfant Soleil, and the Department of Pediatrics, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC (M.W.) - all in Canada; Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, Critical Care Medicine Department, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh (C.D.); Charles University, Third Faculty of Medicine and FNKV University Hospital (F. Duska, M. Schmidt, P.W.), and the Department of Palliative Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital (K.R.), Prague, Czech Republic; NHS Blood and Transplant, Bristol (D.G., D.H.), and Adult Critical Care, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham (D.G., D.H.) - both in the United Kingdom; and the Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center, and the School of Health Professions Education, Maastricht University (W.N.K.A.M.), and the Heart and Vascular Center, Maastricht University Medical Center (J.T.W.), Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The minimum duration of pulselessness required before organ donation after circulatory determination of death has not been well studied. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study of the incidence and timing of resumption of cardiac electrical and pulsatile activity in adults who died after planned withdrawal of life-sustaining measures in 20 intensive care units in three countries. Patients were intended to be monitored for 30 minutes after determination of death. Clinicians at the bedside reported resumption of cardiac activity prospectively. Continuous blood-pressure and electrocardiographic (ECG) waveforms were recorded and reviewed retrospectively to confirm bedside observations and to determine whether there were additional instances of resumption of cardiac activity. RESULTS: A total of 1999 patients were screened, and 631 were included in the study. Clinically reported resumption of cardiac activity, respiratory movement, or both that was confirmed by waveform analysis occurred in 5 patients (1%). Retrospective analysis of ECG and blood-pressure waveforms from 480 patients identified 67 instances (14%) with resumption of cardiac activity after a period of pulselessness, including the 5 reported by bedside clinicians. The longest duration after pulselessness before resumption of cardiac activity was 4 minutes 20 seconds. The last QRS complex coincided with the last arterial pulse in 19% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: After withdrawal of life-sustaining measures, transient resumption of at least one cycle of cardiac activity after pulselessness occurred in 14% of patients according to retrospective analysis of waveforms; only 1% of such resumptions were identified at the bedside. These events occurred within 4 minutes 20 seconds after a period of pulselessness. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and others.).
BACKGROUND: The minimum duration of pulselessness required before organ donation after circulatory determination of death has not been well studied. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study of the incidence and timing of resumption of cardiac electrical and pulsatile activity in adults who died after planned withdrawal of life-sustaining measures in 20 intensive care units in three countries. Patients were intended to be monitored for 30 minutes after determination of death. Clinicians at the bedside reported resumption of cardiac activity prospectively. Continuous blood-pressure and electrocardiographic (ECG) waveforms were recorded and reviewed retrospectively to confirm bedside observations and to determine whether there were additional instances of resumption of cardiac activity. RESULTS: A total of 1999 patients were screened, and 631 were included in the study. Clinically reported resumption of cardiac activity, respiratory movement, or both that was confirmed by waveform analysis occurred in 5 patients (1%). Retrospective analysis of ECG and blood-pressure waveforms from 480 patients identified 67 instances (14%) with resumption of cardiac activity after a period of pulselessness, including the 5 reported by bedside clinicians. The longest duration after pulselessness before resumption of cardiac activity was 4 minutes 20 seconds. The last QRS complex coincided with the last arterial pulse in 19% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: After withdrawal of life-sustaining measures, transient resumption of at least one cycle of cardiac activity after pulselessness occurred in 14% of patients according to retrospective analysis of waveforms; only 1% of such resumptions were identified at the bedside. These events occurred within 4 minutes 20 seconds after a period of pulselessness. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and others.).
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