Incidence, clinical characteristics, and outcome after unexpected cardiac arrest among critically ill adults with COVID-19: insight from the multicenter prospective ACICOVID-19 registry

Background

Initial reports have described the poor outcome of unexpected cardiac arrest (CA) in intensive care unit (ICU) among COVID-19 patients in China and the USA. However, there are scarce data on characteristics and outcomes of such CA patients in Europe

Methods

Prospective registry in 35 French ICUs, including all in-ICU CA in COVID-19 adult patients with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) attempt. Favorable outcome was defined as modified Rankin scale ranging from 0 to 3 at day 90 after CA

Results

Among the 2425 COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU from March to June 2020, 186 (8%) experienced in-ICU CA, of whom 146/186 (78%) received CPR. Among these 146 patients, 117 (80%) had sustained return of spontaneous circulation, 102 (70%) died in the ICU, including 48 dying within the first day after CA occurrence and 21 after withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy. Most of CA were non-shockable rhythm (90%). At CA occurrence, 132 patients (90%) were mechanically ventilated, 83 (57%) received vasopressors and 75 (51%) had almost three organ failures. Thirty patients (21%) had a favorable outcome. Sepsis-related organ failure assessment score > 9 before CA occurrence was the single parameter constantly associated with unfavorable outcome in multivariate analysis

Conclusions

In-ICU CA incidence remains high among a large multicenter cohort of French critically ill adults with COVID-19. However, 21% of patients with CPR attempt remained alive at 3 months with good functional status. This contrasts with other recent reports showing poor outcome in such patients. Trial registration : This study was retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NTC04373759) in April 2020 ( https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04373759?term=acicovid&draw=2&rank=1 ).