Self--administered cough cardiopulmonary resuscitation (c-CPR) in patients threatened by MAS events of cardiovascular origin.

Abstract

Sudden cardiac death caused by cardiac arrhythmia's or asystolies in patients with coronary heart disease can often be avoided if resuscitation is administered immediately, preferably before the patient loses consciousness. In cases when rapid help is not available usually death occurs. We have studied a method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which can be self--administered by patients trained in recognizing imminent arrival of life-threatening Morgani Adams Stokes (MAS) events. The recent study comprised the three methods of investigation in three separate groups of patients: the first group underwent invasive procedures (20 pts), the second non invasive Doppler studies (31 pts) and the third in-and outhospital clinical observations (115 pts). The results indicate that evoked coughing can effectively prevent fainting and maintaining consciousness until conventional CPR help becomes available.