Prompt percutaneous coronary intervention is associated with improved survival in patients presenting with cardiac arrest. Few studies, however, have focused on patients with cardiac arrest not selected for coronary angiography. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with cardiac arrest denied emergent angiography. Patients with cardiac arrest were identified within a registry that included all catheterization laboratory activations from 2008 to 2012. Logistic regression and proportional-hazards models were created to assess the clinical characteristics and mortality associated with denying emergent angiography. Among 664 patients referred for catheterization, 110 (17%) had cardiac arrest, and 26 of these patients did not undergo emergent angiography. Most subjects (69%) were turned down for angiography for clinical reasons and a minority for perceived futility (27%). After multivariate adjustment, pulseless electrical activity as the initial arrest rhythm (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 13.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.76 to 100.12), <1.0 mm of ST-segment elevation (AOR 10.26, 95% CI 1.68 to 62.73), female gender (AOR 4.45, 95% CI 1.04 to 19.08), and advancing age (AOR 1.10 per year, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.16) were associated with increased odds of withholding angiography. The mortality rate was markedly higher for patients who were denied emergent angiography (hazard ratio 3.64, 95% CI 2.05 to 6.49), even after adjustment for medical acuity (hazard ratio 2.29, 95% CI 1.19 to 4.41). In conclusion, older subjects, women, and patients without ST-segment elevation were more commonly denied emergent angiography after cardiac arrest. Patients denied emergent angiography had increased mortality that persisted after adjustment for illness severity.
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