American Journal of Medical Case Reports
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American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2019, 7(12), 325-328
DOI: 10.12691/ajmcr-7-12-6
Open AccessArticle

Beyond the Limit: Double Sequential Defibrillation as an Alternative Therapy for Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation

Dennis Miraglia1, , Lourdes A. Miguel1 and Wilfredo Alonso1

1Department of Internal Medicine, Good Samaritan Hospital, Aguadilla, PR

Pub. Date: September 23, 2019

Cite this paper:
Dennis Miraglia, Lourdes A. Miguel and Wilfredo Alonso. Beyond the Limit: Double Sequential Defibrillation as an Alternative Therapy for Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2019; 7(12):325-328. doi: 10.12691/ajmcr-7-12-6

Abstract

The incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) reported from the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) and the CARES registry in 2016 suggests that 110.8 individuals per 100,000 population or 347,000 adults annually suffer from OHCA in the United States (US); likewise, the incidence of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) reported by Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation (GWTG-R) suggests that each year, 209,000 people are treated for IHCA. Double sequential defibrillation (DSD) has been proposed as an alternative treatment for refractory ventricular fibrillation (VF) as there appears to be a trend of promising outcomes, including termination of refractory VF, sustained ROSC, increased short term survival and favorable outcomes to hospital discharge. We report a case of prolonged resuscitation of an 72-year-old man who developed pulseless ventricular tachycardia (pVT) that progressed to refractory VF terminated by DSD. In addition, we provide a quick reference that summarizes the characteristics and resuscitative parameters of the reported case.

Keywords:
cardiac arrest double sequential defibrillation in-hospital cardiac arrest out-of-hospital cardiac arrest refractory ventricular fibrillation resuscitation

Creative CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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