Controlled automated reperfusion of the whole body after 120 minutes of Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: first clinical report

Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is associated with a high mortality rate. Furthermore, the few survivors often have severe, persistent cerebral dysfunction. A potential cause for this unsatisfactory outcome after CPR is the combination of cardiac arrest (ischemia) and the inability to restore adequate hemodynamics during conventional CPR (reperfusion), resulting in ischemia/reperfusion injury of the whole body. Therefore we developed a concept counteracting this ischemia/reperfusion injury during the process of CPR. Case presentation: We present data from a patient, in whom the concept of a novel controlled automated reperfusion of the whole body (CARL) was applied after 120 min of CPR under normothermic conditions. The patient survived without cerebral deficits and showed full recovery of all organs after prolonged cardiac arrest (CA) except for the spinal cord, where a defect at the level of the 11th thoracic vertebra caused partial loss of motoric function of the legs. Conclusion: This is the first reported clinical application of CARL after CA. The implementation of CARL resulted in unexpected survival and recovery after prolonged normothermic CA and CPR. In synopsis with the preclinical experience in pigs this case shows, that the new concept of CARL treating ischemia/reperfusion during the CPR may be an important element within the future treatment of CA.