Supporting patients and families following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: developing a multidisciplinary care pathway and the role of neuropsychology

This article outlines the current guidelines and recommendations for pre- and post-discharge care and rehabilitation of survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and their families. Although many OHCA survivors make an overall good physical and neurological recovery, many others experience a combination of cognitive decline, emotional problems, fatigue and difficulties in reintegrating in the community and in the workplace. Current pathways of care in the UK are not well suited in identifying and addressing these issues. Neuropsychologists, in particular, are rarely involved in the care of these often-complex patients who fall on the boundaries of neurology, cardiology and critical care. In this article we summarise the current best practice in the development of a pathway of care and rehabilitation for OHCA survivors in the UK. The role of Neuropsychology is discussed, and clinics are invited to collaborate in the development and evaluation of this pathway of care

Additional file 1 of Speed of cooling after cardiac arrest in relation to the intervention effect: a sub-study from the TTM2-trial

Additional file 1: Fig. 1. Predicted probability of death across the 6 hypothermia groups as compared to the normothermia groups at the corresponding sites. Patients in group 1, with the lowest average temperature at 4 hours had a higher probability of death