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Review
. 2024 Sep 23;14(18):2107.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics14182107.

Echocardiography in Cardiac Arrest: Incremental Diagnostic and Prognostic Role during Resuscitation Care

Alfredo Mauriello  1   2 , Gemma Marrazzo  2 , Gerardo Elia Del Vecchio  1   2 , Antonia Ascrizzi  1 , Anna Selvaggia Roma  1 , Adriana Correra  3 , Francesco Sabatella  2 , Renato Gioia  2 , Alfonso Desiderio  2 , Vincenzo Russo  1 , Antonello D'Andrea  2
Affiliations
Review

Echocardiography in Cardiac Arrest: Incremental Diagnostic and Prognostic Role during Resuscitation Care

Alfredo Mauriello et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Cardiac arrest (CA) is a life-critical condition. Patients who survive after CA go into a defined post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS). In this clinical context, the role of the echocardiogram in recent years has become increasingly important to assess the causes of arrest, the prognosis, and any direct and indirect complications dependent on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) maneu-vers.

Methods: We have conduct a narrative revision of literature.

Results: The aim of our review is to evaluate the increasingly important role of the transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiogram in the CA phase and especially post-arrest, analyzing the data already present in the literature.

Conclusion: Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiogram in the CA phase take on important diagnostic and prognostic role.

Keywords: ACLS; CPR; POCUS; ROSC; cardiac arrest; echocardiogram; echocardiography; post-cardiac arrest.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adult post-arrest care algorithm. CT: Computed Tomography; ECG: Electrocardiogram; EEG: Electroencephalogram; PaCO2: Partial pressure of CO2; SpO2: Saturation of peripheral O2; ROSC: Return of spontaneous circulation; STEMI: ST elevation myocardial infarction.
Figure 2
Figure 2
TEE performed during CPR in a patient with CA and non-shockable rhythm presentation, showing in-transit thrombus in right chambers suggesting PE as CA cause. Notably, the patient was affected by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (a,b); vascular ultrasound performed in the same patient after cardiac resuscitation showed deep vein thrombosis involving superficial femoral vein (c).
Figure 3
Figure 3
TTE performed during CPR showing cardiac tamponade as the cause of CA (a,b); after diagnosis, percutaneous pericardiocentesis with US guidance was performed leading to resolution of CA (c); TTE performed during post-resuscitation care showing complete resolution of pericardial effusion and tamponade (d,e).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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