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Better therapy for patients with cardiac arrest
At the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), a special center for the treatment of patients with cardiac arrest has been set up, which should further improve the chances of survival in future. So far, according to expert estimates, "of 75,000 patients who need to be resuscitated annually in Germany after a circulatory failure, only 5,000" survive, reports the UKE.
The interdisciplinary care of resuscitated patients will be further expanded in the University Cardiac Arrest Center Hamburg (UCACH). "The aim is to increase the number of patients who can be discharged from the UKE after cardiac arrest and resuscitation with a good treatment outcome," said the hospital. Resuscitation experts had encouraged the nationwide establishment of such centers, with the aim of "increasing the quality of care and treatment in the clinics to the extent that 10,000 additional lives can be saved each year in Germany."
In the special treatment center at the UKE patients with cardiac arrest should be helped. (Image: pixelaway / fotolia.com) Better treatment results possible
In principle, the provision of care for patients with sudden cardiac arrest poses a major medical and organizational challenge, in which only the best possible result can be achieved through the "optimal integration of all disciplines involved in the entire treatment," stresses Professor Dr. med. Stefan Kluge, Director of the Clinic for Intensive Care Medicine at UKE. For example, resuscitated patients would be three times more likely to leave the clinic with good neurologic outcome (without permanent severe brain damage) if there is a possibility of cardiac catheterization in the home. Because often the circulatory shock is due to a heart attack.
Interdisciplinary care required
"The quality of care and the treatment outcome of resuscitated patients are also decisively determined by the care structure, size and experience of the treating hospital," continues Professor Kluge. In the UKE, the affected patients were initially treated mostly in the internal emergency room of the Central Emergency Room (ZNA) and, after an optional cardiac catheterization, transferred to the intensive care unit for further therapy. Seriously ill patients with acute cardiovascular or circulatory failure are often referred to procedures for mechanical extracorporeal cardiovascular support ("artificial heart"). In the interdisciplinary treatment involved are the "Clinic for Intensive Care Medicine, the Department of General and Interventional Cardiology, the Department of Anesthesiology, the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, the Department of Cardiology with a focus on electrophysiology and the Department of Neurology." In the now In order to ensure optimal care at all times, the UKE communication aims to improve the organization and development of this multiprofessional network. (Fp)