Outcomes of Patients with Cardiac Arrest in the Emergency Department at Shar Teaching Hospital, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq

Background and objectives: Cardiac arrest is a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Thus, we aimed to investigate the outcomes of patients with cardiac arrest in the Emergency Department at Shar Teaching Hospital, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 patients with cardiac arrest were enrolled from January 1st, 2022, to January 1st, 2023 Shar Teaching Hospital, Emergency department, in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq. The patients’ sociodemographic and clinical data were collected, including the arrest location, type of arrhythmia, and result (return of spontaneous circulation or death). Results: The main cause of admission as a cardiac arrest was medical (88.5%), surgical (6.0%), and trauma (5.5%). Most patients (56.5%) were in-hospital cardiovascular arrest, the common type of rhythm was asystole (73%), and 7.5% of patients were returned to spontaneous circulation by cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The in-hospital cardiac arrest significantly (p=0.05) had a better outcome than out-hospital cardiovascular arrest, as 10.6% was the return of spontaneous circulation by cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and 89.4% was dead. The type of rhythm during cardiac arrest was highly significantly (p<0.001) associated with the outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Ventricular tachycardia (100%) and ventricular fibrillation (62.5%) had a good return of spontaneous circulation, while pulseless electrical activity and Asystole rhythm had a low return of spontaneous circulation (8.1% and 0.7%, respectively). Conclusions: In-hospital cardiac arrest had a preferable outcome than out-hospital as its survival rate is higher, and ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation had a high return of spontaneous circulation by cardiopulmonary resuscitation.