Neurological Benefit of Therapeutic Hypothermia Following Return of Spontaneous Circulation for Out-of-Hospital Non-Shockable Cardiac Arrest

Background: Although therapeutic hypothermia is an effective therapy for comatose adults experiencing out-of-hospital shockable cardiac arrest, there is insufficient evidence that is also applicable for those with out-of-hospital non-shockable cardiac arrest. Methods and Results: Of 452 comatose adults treated with therapeutic hypothermia after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) subsequent to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac etiology, 372 who had a bystander-witnessed cardiac arrest, target core temperature of 32–34°C and cooling duration of 12–72h were eligible for this study (75 cases of non-shockable cardiac arrest, 297 cases of shockable cardiac arrest). The median collapse-to-ROSC interval was significantly longer in the non-shockable group than in the shockable group (30min vs. 22min, P=0.008), resulting in a significantly lower frequency of 30-day favorable neurological outcome in the non-shockable group compared with the shockable group (32% vs. 66%, P