Improving cardiac arrest survival

Cardiac arrest is the third leading cause of death in the United States, but survival outcomes vary greatly by location. That’s in part because different hospitals and physicians use different treatment methods.  

Dr. Nick Johnson, professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) is co-leading a study comparing two commonly used medications to treat shock after cardiac arrest to determine which leads to better survival and other outcome measures. 

Across 17 U.S. hospitals, the researchers plan to enroll 2,310 adults who have experienced cardiac arrest. The patients will be randomly assigned epinephrine or norepinephrine, and their recovery will be tracked over the course of their hospitalization and for six months post-discharge. 

The Vasopressor Strategy in Cardiac Arrest to Optimize Recovery trial was approved for $11.5 million in research funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.