Spontaneous circulation return after termination of resuscitation efforts for cardiac arrest following embolization of a ruptured common hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm

Return of spontaneous circulation after termination of resuscitation attempts for cardiac arrest is an extremely rare event. Here we describe an unusual case of a 50-year-old man with massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding from a ruptured common hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm who survived after termination of resuscitation attempts for cardiac arrest during coil embolization . One month earlier, he had undergone total gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy secondary to Stage IV gastric adenocarcinoma . Immediately after the deployment of a Nester coil in the common hepatic artery at the site of a pseudoaneurysm, he sustained cardiopulmonary arrest . After 30 minutes of resuscitation attempts, he died. Approximately 2 minutes after he was pronounced dead, his spontaneous cardiopulmonary circulation resumed. After placement of additional coils in the common hepatic artery, he fully recovered without neurologic disability.