Outcomes of critically ill patients who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Rationale: Studies examining survival outcomes after in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) among intensive care unit (ICU) patients requiring medications for hemodynamic support are limited.Objectives: To examine outcomes of ICU patients who received cardiopulmonary resusitation.Methods: We identified 49,656 adult patients with a first CPA occurring in an ICU between January 1, 2000 and August 26, 2008 within the National Registry of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Survival outcomes of patients requiring hemodynamic support immediately before CPA were compared with those of patients who did not receive hemodynamic support (pressors), using multivariable logistic regression analyses to adjust for differences in demographics and clinical characteristics. Pressor medications included epinephrine, norepinephrine, phenylephrine, dopamine, dobutamine, and vasopressin.Measurements and Main Results: The overall rate of survival to hospital discharge was 15.9%. Patients taking pressors before CPA were less likel...