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Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a potential high-risk condition, but appropriate care pathways, including prehospital triage and primary referral to a specialised neurosurgical centre, can improve neurological outcome and survival. The care pathway starts with layman triage, wherein the patient or bystander decides whether to contact a general practitioner (GP) or emergency services (1-1-2 call) as an entryway into the health care system. The GP or 112-health care professional then decides on the level of urgency and dispatches emergency medical services (EMS) when needed. Finally, a decision is made regarding referral of the TBI patient to a specialised neurotrauma centre or a local hospital. Recent studies have shown that injuries are generally more severe in patients entering the health care system through EMS (112-calls) than through GPs; however, no information exists on whether mortality and morbidity outcomes differ depending on the referral choice. The aim of this study was to examine triage pathways, including the method of entry into the health care system, as well as patient characteristics and place of primary referral, to determine the associated 30-day and 1-year mortality rates in TBI patients with confirmed intracranial lesions., Methods: This retrospective observational population-based follow-up study was conducted in the Central Denmark Region from 1 February 2017 to 31 January 2019. We included all adult patients who contacted hospitals and were ascribed a predefined TBI ICD-10 diagnosis code in the Danish National Patient Register. The obtained TBI cohort was merged with prehospital data from the Prehospital Emergency Medical Services, Central Denmark Region, and vital status from the Danish Civil Registration System. Binary logistic regression analysis of mortality was conducted. In all patients with TBI (including concussions), the primary outcome was primary referral to a specialised centre based on mode of entry ('GP/HCP', '112-call' or 'Unreferred') into the health care system. In the subgroup of patients with confirmed intracranial lesions, the secondary outcomes were the relative risk of death at day 30 and 1 year based on the place of primary referral., Results: Of 5,257 first TBI hospital contacts of adult patients included in the cohort, 1,430 (27.2%) entered the health care system via 1-1-2 emergency medical calls. TBI patients triaged by 112-calls were more likely to receive the highest level of emergency response (15.6% vs. 50.3%; p < 0.001) and second-tier resources and were more frequently referred directly to a specialised centre than were patients entering through GPs or other health care personnel. In the subgroup of 1188/5257 (22.4%) patients with confirmed intracranial lesions, we found no difference in the risk ratio of 30 day (RR 1.04 (95%CI 0.65-1.63)) or 1 year (RR 0.96 (95%CI 0.72-1.25)) all-cause mortality between patients primarily referred to a regional hospital or to a specialised centre when adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, antiplatelet/anticoagulant treatment and type of intracranial lesions., Conclusion: TBI patients mainly enter the health system by contact with GPs or other health care professionals. However, patients entering through 112-calls are more frequently triaged directly to specialised centres. We were unable to demonstrate any significant difference in the adjusted 30-day and 1-year mortality based on e primary referral to a specialised centre. The inability to demonstrate an effect on mortality based on primary referral to a specialised centre may reflect a lack of clinical data in the registries used. Considerable differences may exist in nondocumented baseline characteristics (i.e., GCS, blood pressure and injury severity) between the groups and may limit conclusions about differences in mortality. Further research providing high-quality evidence on the effect of primary referral is needed to secure early neurosurgical interventions in TBI patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) require immediate vascular treatment to survive. The use of prehospital point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) may support clinical assessment, correct diagnosis, appropriate triage and reduce system delay. The aim was to study the process of care and outcome in patients receiving prehospital POCUS versus patients not receiving prehospital POCUS in patients with rAAA, ruptured iliac aneurysm or impending aortic rupture., Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study in patients diagnosed with rAAA in the Central Denmark Region treated by a prehospital critical care physician from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021. Performance of prehospital POCUS was extracted from the prehospital electronic health records. System delay was defined as the time from the emergency phone call to the emergency medical service dispatch centre until the start of surgery. Data on patients primary hospital admission to a centre with/without vascular treatment expertise, treatments and complications including death were extracted from electronic health records., Results: We included 169 patients; prehospital POCUS was performed in 124 patients (73%). Emergency surgical treatment was performed in 71 patients. The overall survival in the POCUS group was 39% versus 16% in the NO POCUS group (hazard ratio (HR) (95% 0.60, 95% CI: 0.41-0.89, p = .011). In the POCUS group 99/124 (80%) were directly admitted to a vascular surgical centre versus 25/45 (56%) in the NO POCUS, RD 24% (95% CI: 8-40)), (p = .002). In the POCUS group, system delay was a median of 142 minutes (interquartile range (IQR) 121-189) and a median of 232 minutes (IQR 166-305) in the NO POCUS group (p = .006). In a multivariable analysis incorporating age, sex, previously known rAAA, and typical clinical symptoms of rAAA, the HR for death was 0.57, 95% CI 0.38-0.86 (p = .008) favouring prehospital POCUS., Conclusions: Prehospital POCUS was associated with reduced time to treatment, higher chance of operability and significantly higher 30-day survival in patients with rAAA, ruptured iliac aneurysm or impending rupture of an AAA in this retrospective study. Residual confounding cannot be excluded. This study supports the clinical relevance of prehospital POCUS of the abdominal aorta., (© 2024 The Authors. Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation.)

Background: Defibrillation is essential for achieving return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with shockable rhythms. This study aimed to investigate if the type of defibrillator used was associated with ROSC in OHCA., Methods and Results: This study included adult patients with OHCA from the Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry from 2016 to 2021 with at least 1 defibrillation by the emergency medical services. We used multivariable logistic regression and a difference-in-difference analysis, including all patients with or without emergency medical services shock to assess the causal inference of using the different defibrillator models (LIFEPAK or ZOLL) for OHCA defibrillation. Among 6516 patients, 77% were male, the median age (quartile 1; quartile 3) was 70 (59; 79), and 57% achieved ROSC. In total, 5514 patients (85%) were defibrillated using LIFEPAK (ROSC: 56%) and 1002 patients (15%) were defibrillated using ZOLL (ROSC: 63%). Patients defibrillated using ZOLL had an increased adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for ROSC compared with LIFEPAK (aOR, 1.22 [95% CI, 1.04-1.43]). There was no significant difference in 30-day mortality (aOR, 1.11 [95% CI, 0.95-1.30]). Patients without emergency medical services defibrillation, but treated by ZOLL-equipped emergency medical services, had a nonsignificant aOR for ROSC compared with LIFEPAK (aOR, 1.10 [95% CI, 0.99-1.23]) and the difference-in-difference analysis was not statistically significant (OR, 1.10 [95% CI, 0.91-1.34])., Conclusions: Defibrillation using ZOLL X Series was associated with increased odds for ROSC compared with defibrillation using LIFEPAK 15 for patients with OHCA. However, a difference-in-difference analysis suggested that other factors may be responsible for the observed association.

Aims: The present acute myocardial infarction (AMI) rule-out strategies are challenged by the late temporal release of cardiac troponin. Copeptin is a non-specific biomarker of endogenous stress and rises early in AMI, covering the early period where troponin is still normal. An accelerated dual-marker rule-out strategy combining prehospital copeptin and in-hospital high-sensitivity troponin T could reduce length of hospital stay and thus the burden on the health care systems worldwide. The AROMI trial aimed to evaluate if the accelerated dual-marker rule-out strategy could safely reduce length of stay in patients discharged after early rule-out of AMI., Methods and Results: Patients with suspected AMI transported to hospital by ambulance were randomized 1:1 to either accelerated rule-out using copeptin measured in a prehospital blood sample and high-sensitivity troponin T measured at arrival to hospital or to standard rule-out using a 0 h/3 h rule-out strategy. The AROMI study included 4351 patients with suspected AMI. The accelerated dual-marker rule-out strategy reduced mean length of stay by 0.9 h (95% confidence interval 0.7-1.1 h) in patients discharged after rule-out of AMI and was non-inferior regarding 30-day major adverse cardiac events when compared to standard rule-out (absolute risk difference -0.4%, 95% confidence interval -2.5 to 1.7; P-value for non-inferiority = 0.013)., Conclusion: Accelerated dual marker rule-out of AMI, using a combination of prehospital copeptin and first in-hospital high-sensitivity troponin T, reduces length of hospital stay without increasing the rate of 30-day major adverse cardiac events as compared to using a 0 h/3 h rule-out strategy., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Background: Diagnostic uncertainty in patients with dyspnea is associated with worse outcomes. We hypothesized that prehospital point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can improve diagnostic accuracy., Methods: Prospective observational study of adult patients suffering dyspnea. Prehospital critical care physicians registered a suspected diagnosis based on clinical examination alone, performed POCUS of the heart and lungs, and finally registered suspected diagnoses based on their clinical examination supplemented with POCUS. Pre- and post-POCUS diagnoses were compared to endpoint committee adjudicated diagnoses. The primary outcome was improved sensitivity for diagnosing acute heart failure. Secondary outcomes included other diagnostic accuracy measures in relation to acute heart failure and other causes of dyspnea., Results: In total, 214 patients were included. The diagnosis of acute heart failure was suspected in 64/214 (30%) of patients before POCUS and 64/214 (30%) patients after POCUS, but POCUS led to reclassification in 53/214 (25%) patients. The endpoint committee adjudicated the diagnosis of acute heart failure in 87/214 (41%) patients. The sensitivity for the diagnosis of acute heart failure was 58% (95% CI 46%-69%) before POCUS compared to 65% (95% CI 53%-75%) after POCUS (p = 0.12). ROC AUC for the diagnosis acute heart failure was 0.72 (95% CI 0.66-0.78) before POCUS compared to 0.79 (0.73-0.84) after POCUS (p < 0.001). ROC AUC for the diagnosis acute exacerbation (AE) of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma was 0.87 (0.82-0.91) before POCUS and 0.93 (0.88-0.97) after POCUS (p < 0.001). A POCUS finding of any of severely reduced left ventricular function, bilateral B-lines or bilateral pleural effusion demonstrated the highest sensitivity for acute heart failure at 88% (95% CI 79%-94%), whereas the combination of all of these three findings yielded the highest specificity at 99% (95% CI 95%-100%)., Conclusion: Supplementary prehospital POCUS leads to an improvement of diagnostic accuracy of both heart failure and AE-COPD/-asthma overall described by ROC AUC, but the increase in sensitivity for the diagnoses of acute heart failure did not reach statistical significance. Tailored use of POCUS findings optimizes diagnostic accuracy for rule-out and rule-in of acute heart failure., Trial Registration: Registered in Clinical Trials, 05.04.2019 (identifier: NCT03905460) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT03905460?term=NCT03905460&cond=Dyspnea&cntry=DK&draw=2&rank=1 ., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

After severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) proteins, neurotrophic factors and inflammatory markers are released into the biofluids. This review and meta-analysis searched the literature for prognostic candidate cerebrospinal fluid markers and their relation to sTBI patient outcome. A systematic search of the literature was carried out across PubMed, EMBASE, PubMed Central (PMC), and Cochrane Central Library. Biomarker concentrations were related to the Glasgow Outcome Scale dichotomized into favorable and unfavorable outcomes. When a biomarker was reported in ≥ 3 studies, it was included in meta-analysis. The search returned 1527 articles. After full-text analysis, 54 articles were included, 34 from the search, and 20 from the reference lists. Of 9 biomarkers, 8 were significantly different compared to controls (IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNFα, sFas, BDNF, and cortisol). Of these, 5 were significantly increased in sTBI patients with unfavorable outcome (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNFα, and cortisol), compared to patients with favorable outcome. This review demonstrated a correlation between 5 biomarkers and clinical outcome in sTBI patients. The paucity of included studies, however, makes it difficult to extrapolate further on this finding., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Timely reperfusion in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is essential. This study aimed to evaluate the reduction in system delay (time from emergency medical service [EMS] call to primary percutaneous coronary intervention [PPCI]) in patients with STEMI when using helicopter EMS (HEMS) rather than ground-based EMS (GEMS). This was a retrospective, nationwide cohort study of consecutive patients with STEMI treated with PPCI at 5 PPCI centers in Denmark. Polynomial spline curves were constructed to describe the association between system delay and distance to the PPCI center stratified by transportation mode. A total of 26,433 patients with STEMI were treated with PPCI between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2016. In 16,436 patients field triaged directly to the PPCI center, the proportion treated within 120 minutes of the EMS call was 75% for those living 0 to 25 km from the PPCI center compared with 65% for all patients transported by GEMS (median transport distance 50 km [interquartile range 23 to 90]) and 64% for all patients transported by HEMS (median transport distance 119 km [interquartile range 99 to 142]). The estimated reduction in system delay owed to using HEMS rather than GEMS was 14, 16, 20, and 29 minutes for patients living 75, 100, 125, and 170 km from a PPCI center. In conclusion, this study confirmed that using HEMS ensures that most patients with STEMI, living up to 170 km from a PPCI center, can be treated within 120 minutes of their EMS call provided they are field triaged directly to the PPCI center., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the survival and neurological outcome in patients with OHCA treated with and without mechanical circulatory support (MCS)., Methods: This was a retrospective observational cohort study on patients with OHCA admitted to Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, between January 2015 and December 2019. Kaplan-Meier estimates were used to evaluate 30-day and 30-180-day survival. Cox regression analysis was used to assess the association between covariates and one-year mortality., Results: Among 1,015 patients admitted, 698 achieved return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) before admission, 101 patients with refractory OHCA received mechanical circulatory support (MCS) and the remaining 216 patients with refractory OHCA did not receive MCS treatment. Survival to hospital discharge was 47% (478/1015). Good neurological outcome defined as Cerebral Performance Categories 1-2 were seen among 92% (438/478) of the patients discharged from hospital. Median low-flow was 15 [8-22] minutes in the ROSC group and 105 [94-123] minutes in the MCS group. Mortality rates were high within the first 30 days, however; 30-180-day survival in patients discharged remained constant over time in both patients with ROSC on admission and patients admitted with MCS. Advanced age > 70 years (hazard ratio (HR) 1.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11-3.49), pulseless electrical activity (HR 2.39, 95% CI 1.25-4.60) and asystole HR 2.70, 95% CI 1.25-5.95) as initial rhythms were associated with one-year mortality in patients with ROSC., Conclusions: Short-term survival rates were high among patients with ROSC and patients receiving MCS. Among patients who survived to day 30, landmark analyses showed comparable 180-day survival in the two groups despite long low-flow times in the MCS group. Advanced age and initial non-shockable rhythms were independent predictors of one-year mortality in patients with ROSC on admission., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Introduction: During the initial Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic wave, sparse personal protection equipment made telephone triage of suscpeted COVID-19 patients for ambulance transport necessary. To spare resources, stable patients were often treated and released on-scene, but reports from Italy suggested that some later detoriated. We implemented a prehospital sit-stand test to identify patients in risk for detoriation., Methods: The test was implemented as part of a new guideline in stable suspected COVID-19 patients younger than 70 years with no risk factors for serious disease triaged by general practitioners to ambulance response in the Central Denmark Region. Data were collected from April 6 th to July 6 th 2020. The primary outcome for this study was the proportion of patients treated with oxygen within 7 days among patients decompensating vs patients not decompensating during the test., Results: Data on 156 patients triaged to ambulance response by general practioners were analysed. In total 86/156 (55%) were tested with the sit-stand test. Due to off-guideline use of the test, 30/86 (34.8%) were either older than 70 or had risk factors for serious disease. 10/156 (6%) of patients had a positive COVID-19-test. In total, 17/86 (20%) decompensated during the test and of these, 9/17 (53%) were treated with oxygen compared to 2/69 (3%) in patients who did not decompensate (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: In a population suspected of COVID-19 but with a low COVD-19 prevalence, decompensation with the sit-stand test was observed in 20% of patients and was associated with oxygen treatment within 7 days. These findings are hypotheses-generating and suggest that physical exercise testing may be usefull for decision making in emergency settings., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The increasing use of Point Of Care Testing (POCT) in the prehospital setting demands a high and consistent quality of blood samples. We have investigated the degree of haemolysis in 779 prehospital blood samples and found a significant increase in haemolysis compared to intrahospital samples. The degree of haemolysis was within acceptable limits for current analyses. However, haemolysis should be taken into account when implementing future analyses in the prehospital field.

Background: The biomarker serum S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B) is used in in-hospital triage of adults with mild traumatic brain injury to rule out intracranial lesions. The biomarker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is suggested as a potential diagnostic biomarker for traumatic brain injury. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of early prehospital S100B and GFAP measurements to rule out intracranial lesions in adult patients with mild traumatic brain injury., Methods: Prehospital and in-hospital blood samples were drawn from 566 adult patients with mild traumatic brain injury (Glasgow Coma Scale Score 14-15). The index test was S100B and GFAP concentrations. The reference standard was endpoint adjudication of the traumatic intracranial lesion based on medical records. The primary outcome was prehospital sensitivity of S100B in relation to the traumatic intracranial lesion., Results: Traumatic intracranial lesions were found in 32/566 (5.6%) patients. The sensitivity of S100B > 0.10 μg/L was 100% (95%CI: 89.1;100.0) in prehospital samples and 100% (95% CI 89.1;100.0) in in-hospital samples. The specificity was 15.4% (95%CI: 12.4;18.7) in prehospital samples and 31.5% (27.5;35.6) in in-hospital samples. GFAP was only detected in less than 2% of cases with the assay used., Conclusion: Early prehospital and in-hospital S100B levels < 0.10 μg/L safely rules out traumatic intracranial lesions in adult patients with mild traumatic brain injury, but specificity is lower with early prehospital sampling than with in-hospital sampling. The very limited cases with values detectable with our assay do not allow conclusions to be draw regarding the diagnostic accuracy of GFAP., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02867137 .

According to in-hospital guidelines, the biomarker, S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B), is used to rule out intracranial lesions in mild-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is currently investigated whether S100B is applicable in a pre-hospital setting. The aim was to compare S100B values and hemolysis index in blood samples drawn and stored under simulated pre-hospital conditions to standardized blood samples. Thirty patients undergoing craniotomy at Department of Neurosurgery, Aarhus University Hospital (Aarhus, Denmark) each had six blood samples drawn. Two samples, drawn in in-hospital standardized Beckton Dickinson tubes and pre-hospital Monovette tubes, respectively, were stored as references at 21°C for 30 min. Two samples were stored at 15°C and 29°C, respectively, one sample was stored at prolonged time (60 min), and one sample was transported for 30 min before centrifugation. S100B values were compared by equivalence test with a pre-defined equivalence margin of ±8.5%. There was no clinically relevant difference between samples stored in different tubes, at various temperatures, or time to analysis compared to reference samples. Transported samples had an 11.5% (90% confidence interval [CI], 6.55; 16.61) higher median S100B value and a 430% (95% CI, 279.6; 661.4) higher median hemolysis index compared to reference samples. Three of 30 (10%) patients had an S100B value above guideline cutoff in the transported sample, which was not found in reference samples (false positive). There were no false negatives. In conclusion, S100B values were not influenced by different tubes, temperatures, and time to analysis. Transported samples had higher median S100B values and hemolysis, icterus, and lipemia index compared to reference samples.

Background: Chest pain is common in acute ambulance transports. This study aims to characterize and compare ambulance-transported chest pain patients to non-chest pain patients and evaluate if patient characteristics and accompanying symptoms accessible at the time of emergency call can predict cause and outcome in chest pain patients., Methods: Retrospective, observational population-based study, including acute ambulance transports. Patient characteristics and symptoms are included in a multivariable risk model to identify characteristics, associated with being discharged without an acute cardiac diagnosis and surviving 30 days after chest pain event., Results: In total, 10,033 of 61,088 (16.4%) acute ambulance transports were due to chest pain. In chest pain patients, 30-day mortality was 2.1% (95%CI 1.8-2.4) compared to 6.0% (95%CI 5.7-6.2) in non-chest pain patients. Of chest pain patients, 1054 (10.5%) were diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction, and 5068 (50.5%) were discharged without any diagnosis of disease. This no-diagnosis group had very low 30-day mortality, 0.4% (95%CI 0.2-0.9). Female gender, younger age, chronic pulmonary disease, absence of accompanying symptoms of dyspnoea, radiation, severe pain for > 5 min, clammy skin, uncomfortable, and nausea were associated with being discharged without an acute cardiac diagnosis and surviving 30 days after a chest pain event., Conclusion: Chest pain is a common reason for ambulance transport, but the majority of patients are discharged without a diagnosis and with a high survival rate. Early risk prediction seems to hold a potential for resource downgrading and thus cost-saving in selected chest pain patients.

Background: Suspicion of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is among the most common reasons for admission to hospital in Denmark. Owing to this suspicion, an estimated 50,000 patients are admitted every year. Only 15-20% are finally diagnosed with AMI, whereas 40% are discharged after rule-out of AMI and without initiation of any treatment or need for further admission. In patients discharged after rule-out, the current diagnostic protocol, using consecutive troponin measurements, results in an average length of stay (LOS) of 8-12 h. This leads to overcrowding in both the emergency departments and coronary care units. Measuring copeptin and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) upon hospital arrival has shown potential for early rule-out of AMI. However, the diagnostic performance may be improved by accelerating the copeptin measurement of blood sampled already in the pre-hospital phase. Additional evidence on LOS reduction and safety of the rule-out strategy in a large cohort of all-comers is needed., Methods/design: The rule-out potential is being evaluated in a randomized controlled trial including 4800 patients admitted to hospital for suspicion of AMI. Patients are randomized to either standard rule-out (consecutive troponin measurements) or accelerated rule-out (copeptin measured in a blood sample acquired before hospital admission, combined with troponin measured in the first blood sample upon admission)., Discussion: Sampling blood for copeptin analysis already in the pre-hospital phase and combining this with a later hs-cTn measurement may be the optimal timing for achieving the best diagnostic performance in an AMI rule-out protocol/strategy. Moreover, we are directly comparing pre-hospital and in-hospital blood sample results to address this issue of timing, and we also are comparing single-marker strategies with dual-marker strategies. If the combination of copeptin and hs-cTn is confirmed to rule out AMI safely, implementation of this fast rule-out protocol could optimize patient flow, reduce health care expenses and enable allocation of resources to patients with confirmed illness. In future, when point-of-care analyses of copeptin and hs-cTn are available, hospitalization of the large proportion of patients with symptoms raising suspicion of AMI could potentially be avoided., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02666326 . Registered on January 24, 2016.

Introduction: Identifying reversible causes of cardiac arrest is challenging. The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism is often missed. Pulmonary embolism increases alveolar dead space resulting in low end-tidal CO 2 (EtCO 2 ) relative to arterial CO 2 (PaCO 2 ) tension. Thus, a low EtCO 2 /PaCO 2 ratio during resuscitation may be a sign of pulmonary embolism., Methods: Post hoc analysis of data from two porcine studies comparing ultrasonographic measurements of right ventricular diameter during resuscitation from cardiac arrest of different causes. Pigs were grouped according to cause of arrest (pulmonary embolism, hypovolemia, primary arrhythmia, hypoxia, or hyperkalaemia) and EtCO 2 /PaCO 2 ratios were compared., Results: Data from 54 pigs were analysed. EtCO 2 levels at the third rhythm analysis were significantly lower when cardiac arrest was caused by pulmonary embolism than by primary arrhythmia, hypoxia and hyperkalaemia, but there was no significant difference between pulmonary embolism and hypovolemia. In contrast, PaCO 2 levels were higher in cardiac arrest caused by pulmonary embolism than in the other causes of cardiac arrest. Consequently, the EtCO 2 /PaCO 2 ratio was lower in pulmonary embolism 0.2 (95%CI 0.1-0.4), than in hypovolaemia 0.5 (95%CI 0.3-0.6), primary arrhythmia 0.7 (95%CI 0.7-0.8), hypoxia 0.5 (95%CI 0.4-0.6), and hyperkalaemia 0.6 (95%CI 0.6-0.7)., Conclusion: A low EtCO 2 /PaCO 2 ratio during cardiopulmonary resuscitation suggests pulmonary embolism., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: In 2011, the role of Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) was defined as one of the top five research priorities in physician-provided prehospital critical care and future research topics were proposed; the feasibility of prehospital POCUS, changes in patient management induced by POCUS and education of providers. This systematic review aimed to assess these three topics by including studies examining all kinds of prehospital patients undergoing all kinds of prehospital POCUS examinations and studies examining any kind of POCUS education in prehospital critical care providers., Methods and Results: By a systematic literature search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases, we identified and screened titles and abstracts of 3264 studies published from 2012 to 2017. Of these, 65 studies were read in full-text for assessment of eligibility and 27 studies were ultimately included and assessed for quality by SIGN-50 checklists. No studies compared patient outcome with and without prehospital POCUS. Four studies of acceptable quality demonstrated feasibility and changes in patient management in trauma. Two studies of acceptable quality demonstrated feasibility and changes in patient management in breathing difficulties. Four studies of acceptable quality demonstrated feasibility, outcome prediction and changes in patient management in cardiac arrest, but also that POCUS may prolong pauses in compressions. Two studies of acceptable quality demonstrated that short (few hours) teaching sessions are sufficient for obtaining simple interpretation skills, but not image acquisition skills. Three studies of acceptable quality demonstrated that longer one- or two-day courses including hands-on training are sufficient for learning simple, but not advanced, image acquisition skills. Three studies of acceptable quality demonstrated that systematic educational programs including supervised examinations are sufficient for learning advanced image acquisition skills in healthy volunteers, but that more than 50 clinical examinations are required for expertise in a clinical setting., Conclusion: Prehospital POCUS is feasible and changes patient management in trauma, breathing difficulties and cardiac arrest, but it is unknown if this improves outcome. Expertise in POCUS requires extensive training by a combination of theory, hands-on training and a substantial amount of clinical examinations - a large part of these needs to be supervised.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the addition of brain natriuretic peptide measurement to the routine diagnostic work-up by prehospital critical care team physicians improves triage in patients with severe dyspnoea., Methods: Prehospital critical care team physicians randomly assigned patients older than 18 years with severe dyspnoea to routine diagnostic work-up or diagnostic work-up with incorporated point-of-care N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measurement. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with dyspnoea of primary cardiac origin triaged directly to a department of cardiology., Results: A total of 747 patients were randomly assigned and 711 patients consented to participate, 350 were randomly assigned to the NT-proBNP group and 361 to the routine work-up group. NT-proBNP was measured in 90% (315/350) of patients in the NT-proBNP group and in 19% (70/361) of patients in the routine work-up group. There was no difference in the proportion of patients with dyspnoea of primary cardiac origin triaged directly to a department of cardiology between the NT-proBNP group and the routine work-up group (75% vs. 69%, P=0.22) in the intention-to-treat analysis. Sensitivity analysis according to the de facto diagnostics performed showed results consistent with this. No differences in hospital length of stay, intensive care unit admission rates or mortality between the NT-proBNP group and the routine work-up group were observed., Conclusion: Routine supplementary point-of-care measurement of NT-proBNP in patients with severe dyspnoea did not improve triage of patients with dyspnoea primarily caused by heart disease. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02050282.

Objective: We examined whether teleconsultation from ambulances to a physician at an emergency medical communication center (EMCC) would increase the proportion of patients with nonurgent conditions being treated and released on site., Methods: This research was a before-after pilot study. In the intervention period, the EMCC was manned 24/7 with physicians experienced in emergency care. Eligible participants included all patients with nonurgent conditions receiving an ambulance after a medical emergency call. Ambulance personnel assessed patients and subsequently performed a telephone consultation from the ambulance with the physician. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients treated and released on site. Secondary outcomes were the number of hospital admissions, mortality, and patient satisfaction. The intervention period was compared with a corresponding control period from the previous year., Results: We observed an increase in the proportion of patients treated and released in the intervention period in 2014 compared with the control period in 2013, up from 21% (n=137) to 29% (n=221) (odds ratio=1.46; 95% confidence interval=1.14-1.89, P=0.002). The follow-up rate was 100%. There was no observable increase in hospital admissions or mortality among patients treated and released from 2013 to 2014. A telephone survey of patients treated and released showed that 98.4% (95% confidence interval=91.3-99.9) were very satisfied or satisfied with their treatment., Conclusion: Teleconsultation between a physician at the EMCC and ambulance personnel and noncritically ill 1-1-2 patients results in an increased rate of patients treated and released with high satisfaction. The approach does not seem to compromise patient safety.

Introduction: Focused cardiac ultrasound can potentially identify reversible causes of cardiac arrest during advanced life support (ALS), but data on the timing of image acquisition are lacking. This study aimed to compare the quality of images obtained during rhythm analysis, bag-mask ventilations, and chest compressions., Methods: Adult patients in cardiac arrest were prospectively included during 23 months at a Danish community hospital. Physicians who had completed basic ultrasound training performed subcostal focused cardiac ultrasound during rhythm analysis, bag-mask ventilations, and chest compressions. Image quality was categorised as either useful for interpretation or not. Two echocardiography experts rated images useful for interpretation if all the following characteristics could be determined: 1) right ventricle larger than left ventricle, 2) pericardial fluid, and 3) collapsing ventricles., Results: Images were obtained from 60 of 114 patients undergoing ALS. A higher proportion of the images obtained during rhythm analysis and bag-mask ventilations were useful for interpretation when compared with chest compressions (rhythm analysis vs chest compressions: OR 2.2 (95%CI 1.3-3.8), P = 0.005; bag mask ventilations vs chest compressions: OR 2.0 (95%CI 1.1-3.7), P = 0.03). There was no difference between images obtained during rhythm analysis and bag-mask ventilations (OR 1.1 (95%CI 0.6-2.0), P = 0.74)., Conclusion: The quality of focused cardiac ultrasound images obtained during rhythm analysis and bag-mask ventilations was superior to that of images obtained during chest compressions. There was no difference in the quality of images obtained during rhythm analysis and bag-mask ventilations. Bag-mask ventilations may constitute an overlooked opportunity for image acquisition during ALS., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Study Objective: Emergency medical services (EMS) provides out-of-hospital care to patients with life-threatening conditions, but the long-term outcomes of EMS patients are unknown. We seek to determine the long-term mortality of EMS patients in Denmark., Methods: We analyzed linked EMS, hospital, and vital status data from 3 of 5 geographic regions in Denmark. We included events from July 1, 2011, to December 31, 2012. We classified EMS events according to primary dispatch category (unconsciousness/cardiac arrest, accidents/trauma, chest pain, dyspnea, neurologic symptoms, and other EMS patients). The primary outcome was 1-year mortality adjusted for age, sex, and Charlson comorbidity index., Results: Among 142,125 EMS events, primary dispatch categories were unconsciousness or cardiac arrest 5,563 (3.9%), accidents or trauma 40,784 (28.7%), chest pain 20,945 (14.7%), dyspnea 9,607 (6.8%), neurologic symptoms 17,804 (12.5%), and other EMS patients 47,422 (33.4%). One-year mortality rates were unconscious or cardiac arrest 54.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 53.4% to 56.1%), accidents or trauma 7.8 (95% CI 7.5% to 8.1%), chest pain 8.5% (95% CI 8.1% to 9.0%), dyspnea 27.7% (95% CI 26.7% to 28.7%), neurologic symptoms 14.1% (95% CI 13.6% to 14.7%), and other EMS patients 11.1% (95% CI 10.8% to 11.4%). Compared with other EMS conditions, adjusted 1-year mortality was higher in unconsciousness or cardiac arrest (risk ratio [RR] 2.6; 95% CI 2.5 to 2.7), dyspnea (RR 1.5; 95% CI 1.4 to 1.5), and in neurologic symptoms (RR 1.1; 95% CI 1.0 to 1.1), but lower in chest pain (RR 0.6; 95% CI 0.6 to 0.7) and accidents or trauma (RR 0.8; 95% CI 0.8 to 0.8)., Conclusion: EMS patients with unconsciousness or cardiac arrest, dyspnea, and neurologic symptoms are at highest risk of long-term mortality. Our results suggest a potential for outcome improvement in these patients., (Copyright © 2016 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Dilation of the right ventricle during cardiac arrest and resuscitation may be inherent to cardiac arrest rather than being associated with certain causes of arrest such as pulmonary embolism. This study aimed to compare right ventricle diameter during resuscitation from cardiac arrest caused by hypovolemia, hyperkalemia, or primary arrhythmia (i.e., ventricular fibrillation)., Design: Thirty pigs were anesthetized and then randomized to cardiac arrest induced by three diffrent methods. Seven minutes of untreated arrest was followed by resuscitation. Cardiac ultrasonographic images were obtained during induction of cardiac arrest, untreated cardiac arrest, and resuscitation. The right ventricle diameter was measured. Primary endpoint was the right ventricular diameter at the third rhythm analysis., Setting: University hospital animal laboratory., Subjects: Female crossbred Landrace/Yorkshire/Duroc pigs (27-32 kg)., Interventions: Pigs were randomly assigned to cardiac arrest caused by either hypovolemia, hyperkalemia, or primary arrhythmia., Measurements and Main Results: At the third rhythm analysis during resuscitation, the right ventricle diameter was 32 mm (95% CI, 29-35) in the hypovolemia group, 29 mm (95% CI, 26-32) in the hyperkalemia group, and 25 mm (95% CI, 22-28) in the primary arrhythmia group. This was larger than baseline for all groups (p = 0.03). When comparing groups at the third rhythm analysis, the right ventricle was larger for hypovolemia than for primary arrhythmia (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: The right ventricle was dilated during resuscitation from cardiac arrest caused by hypovolemia, hyperkalemia, and primary arrhythmia. These findings indicate that right ventricle dilation may be inherent to cardiac arrest, rather than being associated with certain causes of arrest. This contradicts a widespread clinical assumption that in hypovolemic cardiac arrest, the ventricles are collapsed rather than dilated.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the right ventricle is more dilated during resuscitation from cardiac arrest caused by pulmonary embolism, compared with hypoxia and primary arrhythmia., Design: Twenty-four pigs were anesthetized and cardiac arrest was induced using three different methods. Pigs were resuscitated after 7 minutes of untreated cardiac arrest. Ultrasonographic images were obtained and the right ventricular diameter was measured., Setting: University hospital animal laboratory., Subjects: Female crossbred Landrace/Yorkshire/Duroc pigs (27-32 kg)., Interventions: Pigs were randomly assigned to cardiac arrest induced by pulmonary embolism, hypoxia, or primary arrhythmia., Measurements and Main Results: There was no difference at baseline. During induction of cardiac arrest, the right ventricle dilated in all groups (p < 0.01 for all). The primary endpoint was right ventricle diameter at the third rhythm analysis: 32 mm (95% CI, 29-36) for pulmonary embolism which was significantly larger than both hypoxia: 23 mm (95% CI, 20-27) and primary arrhythmia: 25 mm (95% CI, 22-28)-the absolute difference was 7-9 mm. Physicians with basic training in focused cardiac ultrasonography were able to detect a difference in right ventricle diameter of approximately 10 mm with a sensitivity of 79% (95% CI, 64-94) and a specificity of 68% (95% CI, 56-80)., Conclusions: The right ventricle was more dilated during resuscitation when cardiac arrest was caused by pulmonary embolism compared with hypoxia and primary arrhythmia. However, the right ventricle was dilated, irrespective of the cause of arrest, and diagnostic accuracy by physicians with basic training in focused cardiac ultrasonography was modest. These findings challenge the paradigm that right ventricular dilatation on ultrasound during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is particularly associated with pulmonary embolism.

Background: Implementation of point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) of the heart and lungs requires image acquisition skills among providers. We aimed to determine the effect of POCUS implementation using a systematic education program on image acquisition skills and subsequent use and barriers in a department of anesthesiology., Methods: Twenty-five anesthesiologists underwent a systematic education program in POCUS during the fall of 2012. A POCUS expert evaluated images from baseline and evaluation examinations performed on two healthy individuals as useful or not useful for clinical interpretation. In August 2016, anesthesiologists employed at the department answered a questionnaire regarding the use of POCUS and perceived barriers to its use., Results: The systematic education program increased the proportion of images useful for clinical interpretation from 0.70 (95% CI 0.65-0.75) to 0.98 (95% CI 0.95-0.99). This difference was significant when adjusted for prior cardiac ultrasonography courses, prior clinical cardiac ultrasonography experience, ultrasonography view, and ultrasound model (P < 0.001). After 3.5 years, 15/25 (60%) of perioperative medicine providers, 22/24 (92%) of intensive care providers, and 21/21 (100%) of pre-hospital care providers used POCUS either routinely, in selected patient groups, or sporadically., Conclusion: Implementation of POCUS by a systematic education program increased image acquisition skills across anesthesiologists employed at the department. POCUS was used in the intensive care setting, the pre-hospital setting, and to a lesser extent in the perioperative setting. Educational strategies for obtaining images under difficult conditions, practical equipment and evidence for effect on patient outcomes are required for full implementation of POCUS., (© 2017 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Primary percutaneous intervention (PPCI) is the preferred treatment in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) if this can be performed in a timely manner. The 2012 ESC Guidelines on management of AMI in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation advice that PPCI should be performed within 120 min of first medical contact. Prehospital diagnosis of patients with STEMI is performed to save time and make PPCI available to the majority of patients. Although diagnosing patients with STEMI is usually easy, there are important pitfalls and patients with STEMI are missed on occasion. In addition, it is well know that patients without ST elevation may also have a high-risk cardiac condition. The 2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of acute coronary syndromes in patients presenting without persistent ST-segment elevation stress the importance of urgent CAG in patients with high-risk non ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Unfortunately, these patients are difficult to diagnose in the acute phase and important time may be spend establishing the correct diagnosis. Prehospital biomarker measurement has emerged as a method to gain important additional information. We review the evidence on prehospital diagnosis of patients with STEMI and, In addition, we present the current knowledge on the new diagnostic methods that could have a future role in prehospital rule-in and rule-out of cardiac disease.

Background: Systematic management of patients suffering high-risk symptoms is essential in emergency medical services. Patients with chest pain receive algorithm-based work-up and treatment. Though dyspnea is recognized as an independent predictor of mortality, no generally accepted prehospital treatment algorithm exists and this may affect outcome. The objective of this study was to compare mortality in patients suspected of myocardial infarction (MI) presenting with dyspnea versus chest pain in the ambulance., Methods: Follow-up study in patients undergoing electrocardiogram-based telemedical triage because of suspected MI in an ambulance in the Central Denmark Region from 1 June 2008 to 1 January 2013. Primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were 4-year mortality and mortality rates in subgroups of patients with and without a confirmed MI. Absolute risk differences adjusted for comorbidity, age, systolic blood pressure and heart rate were calculated by a generalized linear regression model., Results: Of 17,398 patients, 12,230 (70%) suffered from chest pain, 1464 (8%) from dyspnea, 3540 (20%) from other symptoms and 164 (1%) from cardiac arrest. Among patients with dyspnea, 30-day mortality was 13% (CI 12-15) and 4-year mortality was 50% (CI 47-54) compared to 2.9% (CI 2.6-3.2) and 20% (CI 19-21) in patients with chest pain. MI was confirmed in 121 (8.3%) patients with dyspnea and in 2319 (19%) with chest pain. Patients with dyspnea and confirmed MI had a 30-day and 4-year mortality of 21 % (CI 15-30) and 60% (CI 50-70) compared to 5.0% (CI 4.2-5.8) and 23% (CI 21-25) in patients with chest pain and confirmed MI. Adjusting for age, comorbidity, systolic blood pressure and heart rate did not change these patterns., Conclusion: Patients suspected of MI presenting with dyspnea have significantly higher short- and long-term mortality than patients with chest pain irrespective of a confirmed MI diagnosis. Future studies should examine if supplementary prehospital diagnostics can improve triage, facilitate early therapy and improve outcome in patients presenting with dyspnea.

Background: Unexpected cardiopulmonary complications are well described during surgery and anesthesia. Pre-operative evaluation by focused cardiopulmonary ultrasonography may prevent such mishaps. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of unexpected cardiopulmonary pathology with focused ultrasonography in patients undergoing urgent surgical procedures., Methods: We performed pre-operative focused cardiopulmonary ultrasonography in patients aged 18 years or above undergoing urgent surgical procedures at pre-defined study days. Known and unexpected cardiopulmonary pathology was recorded, and subsequent changes in the anesthesia technique or supportive actions were registered., Results: A total of 112 patients scheduled for urgent surgical procedures were included. Their mean age (standard deviation) was 62 (21) years. Of these patients, 24% were American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 1, 39% were ASA class 2, 32% were ASA class 3, and 4% were ASA class 4. Unexpected cardiopulmonary pathology was disclosed in 27% [95% confidence interval (CI) 19-36] of the patients and led to a change in anesthesia technique or supportive actions in 43% (95% CI 25-63) of these. Unexpected pathology leading to changes in anesthesia technique or supportive actions was only disclosed in a group of patients above the age of 60 years and/or in ASA class ≥ 3., Conclusion: Focused cardiopulmonary ultrasonography disclosed unexpected pathology in patients undergoing urgent surgical procedures and induced changes in the anesthesia technique or supportive actions. Pre-operative focused ultrasonography seems feasible in patients above 60 year and/or with physical limitations but not in young, healthy individuals., (© 2014 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

We present two cases from the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) in Denmark, in which prehospital physicians trained in cardiac ultrasound (FATE) disclosed significant pathology that induced a radical change for the critical patient's course.

Background: The scientific evidence of a beneficial effect of physicians in prehospital treatment is scarce. The objective of this systematic review of controlled studies was to examine whether physicians, as opposed to paramedical personnel, increase patient survival in prehospital treatment and if so, to identify the patient groups that gain benefit., Methods: A systematic review of studies published in the databases PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane from January 1, 1990 to November 24, 2008. Controlled studies comparing patient survival with prehospital physician treatment vs. treatment by paramedical personnel in trauma patients or patients with any acute illness were included., Results: We identified 1.359 studies of which 26 met our inclusion criteria. In nine of 19 studies including between 25 and 14.702 trauma patients in the intervention group, physician treatment increased survival compared to paramedical treatment. In four of five studies including between nine and 85 patients with out of hospital cardiac arrest, physician treatment increased survival. Only two studies including 211 and 2.869 patients examined unselected, broader patient groups. Overall, they demonstrated no survival difference between physician and paramedical treatment but one found increased survival with physician treatment in subgroups of patients with acute myocardial infarction and respiratory diseases., Conclusion: Our systematic review revealed only few controlled studies of variable quality and strength examining survival with prehospital physician treatment. Increased survival with physician treatment was found in trauma and, based on more limited evidence, cardiac arrest. Indications of increased survival were found in respiratory diseases and acute myocardial infarction. Many conditions seen in the prehospital setting remain unexamined.