An escalating higher-energy regimen was better than a fixed lower-energy regimen for defibrillation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

摘要

Ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia comprisenthe common electrical pathway for sudden cardiac death. As such, theirntermination and the restoration of spontaneous circulation are thenimmediate primary targets for cardiac defibrillation, arguably the mostnimportant and life-saving intervention in the resuscitative armamentarium.nAlthough these arrhythmias are readily treatable when theynoccur in the electrophysiology laboratory or when detected by annimplanted cardiac defibrillator, they are, unfortunately, most often fatalnin the out-of-hospital context where delays are inevitable.