Report from the Japanese registry of CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest (J-RCPR)

Background: In-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) is an important issue, but data in Japan are limited. Methods and Results: To investigate in-hospital CPA, we conducted a prospective multicenter observational registry of in-hospital CPA and resuscitation in Japan (J-RCPR). During January 2008 to December 2009, patients were registered from 12 participating hospitals. All patients, visitors and employees within the facility campus who experience a cardiopulmonary resuscitation event defined as either a pulseless or a pulse with inadequate perfusion requiring chest compressions and/or defibrillation of ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) were registered. Data were collected in 6 major categories of variables: facility data, patient demographic data, pre-event data, event data, outcome data, and quality improvement data. Data for 491 adults were analyzed. The prevalence of pulseless VT/VF as first documented rhythm was 28.1%, asystole was 29.5% and pulseless electrical activity was 41.1%. Immediate causes of event were arrhythmia 30.6%, acute respiratory insufficiency 26.7%, and hypotension 15.7%. Return of spontaneous circulation was 64.7%; the proportion of survival 24 h after CPA was 49.8%, the proportion of survival to hospital discharge was 27.8% and proportion of favorable neurological outcome at 30 days was 21.4%. Conclusions: This is the first report of the registry for in-hospital CPA in Japan and shows that the registry provides important observational data.