Is all ventricular fibrillation the same? A comparison of ischemically induced with electrically induced ventricular fibrillation in a porcine cardiac arrest and resuscitation model*

Abstract

Resuscitation from ischemic ventricular fibrillation is more difficult than electrical ventricular fibrillation and is characterized by greater time to restoration of spontaneous circulation, frequent refibrillation, greater number of countershocks, higher epinephrine dose during resuscitation efforts, profound cardiac dysfunction, and a short-term survival rate approaching clinical experience. Ischemically induced ventricular fibrillation is a more clinically relevant model for the evaluation of resuscitation interventions.