The Ventilation During In-hospital Cardiac Arrest (VENT-IHCA) Study

Title

Aim

The VENT-IHCA study aims to investigate the associations of key ventilation parameters such as tidal volume and ventilation rate during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) of hospitalized adult patients with survival outcomes after cardiac arrest.

Design

Clinical prospective observational multicentre study.

Methods

In the VENT-IHCA study, cardiac arrest teams apply the EOlife device (Archeon, Besançon, France) to directly measure ventilation during CPR of adult patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA). The EOlife device measures air flow in a blinded mode, allowing detailed recording of key ventilation parameters such as ventilation rate and tidal volumes, while clinical teams remain unaffected by the measurements and deliver usual care. The ventilation data is combined with cardiac arrest and patient characteristics as well as outcome data to investigate how ventilation parameters affect survival and post-resuscitation outcomes.

Population

Adult patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest who receive CPR.

Outcome

The primary outcome is the fraction of patients with return of spontaneous circulation. The secondary outcome is the fraction of patients surviving until day 30.

Perspectives

This is the first study to directly measure both ventilation rates and tidal volumes during CPR of adult patients with an IHCA. The measurements will allow the investigators to describe clinical ventilation performance during CPR and provide new evidence on the potential impact of ventilation on patient outcomes. As current clinical guidelines for ventilation during CPR are based on very-low certainty evidence and expert opinion, the VENT-IHCA study addresses a key knowledge gap in the care of critically ill patients. Furthermore, the VENT-IHCA study may lay the foundation for future interventional randomized controlled trials aimed at confirming the optimal ventilation parameters during CPR in adult patients.