In-Depth Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Adult Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

The use of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (E-CPR) for the treatment of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who do not respond to conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation CPR) has increased significantly in the past 10 years, in response to case reports and observational studies reporting encouraging results. However, no randomized controlled trials comparing E-CPR with conventional CPR have been published to date. The evidence from systematic reviews of the available observational studies is conflicting. The inclusion criteria for published E-CPR studies are variable, but most commonly include witnessed arrest, immediate bystander CPR, an initial shockable rhythm, and an estimated time from CPR start to establishment of E-CPR (low-flow time) of