BACKGROUND:

Population aging has rapidly progressed in Japan. However, few data exist regarding the characteristics of extremely elderly patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We aimed to determine the prehospital predictors of one-month survival with favorable neurological outcomes (Cerebral Performance Category scale, category 1 or 2; CPC 1-2) in this population.

METHODS:

We investigated 23,520 OHCA patients aged ≥95 years from a prospectively recorded, nationwide, Utstein-style Japanese database between 2008 and 2012. The primary study endpoint was one-month CPC 1-2 after OHCA.

RESULTS:

The one-month CPC 1-2 rate was 0.27% (63/23,520). Only two variables were significantly associated with one-month CPC 1-2 in a multivariate logistic regression model: prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 94.4; 95% confidential interval (CI), 50.1-191.7] and emergency medical service (EMS)-witnessed arrest (aOR, 5.1; 95% CI, 2.6-10.2). When stratified by these two predictors, the one-month CPC 1-2 rates were 20.2% (18/89) for patients who had both prehospital ROSC and EMS-witnessed arrest, 4.2% (33/783) for those who had prehospital ROSC without EMS-witnessed arrest, 0.28% (3/1065) for those who had EMS-witnessed arrest without prehospital ROSC, and 0.04% (9/21,583) for those who had neither predictor, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

The crucial prehospital predictors for one-month CPC 1-2 in elderly OHCA patients aged ≥95 years in Japan were prehospital ROSC and EMS-witnessed arrest and the former was the predominant predictor.

The aim of the study was to elucidate the aggressive reduction of both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and blood pressure (BP) reduced coronary atherosclerotic plaque volume compared with a standard treatment of LDL-C and BP in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This study is a prospective, randomized, and open-labelled with a blind-endpoint evaluation study. A total of 97 patients (81 men, mean age 62.0 ± 9.6) with CAD undergoing intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were randomized, and 68 patients had IVUS examinations at baseline and at 18-24 months follow-up. Patients were randomly assigned to standard or aggressive strategies targeting LDL-C and a BP of 100 mg/dL and 140/90 mmHg vs. 70 mg/dL and 120/70 mmHg, respectively. The primary endpoint was the percent change in coronary plaque volume. Both standard and aggressive strategies succeeded to achieve target levels of LDL-C and BP; 74.9 ± 14.7 vs. 63.7 ± 11.9 mg/dL (NS) and 124.1 ± 9.4/75.8 ± 7.7 vs. 113.6 ± 9.6/65.8 ± 9.4 mmHg (systolic BP; NS, diastolic BP; p < 0.05), respectively. Both groups showed a significant reduction in the coronary plaque volume of -9.4 ± 10.7% and -8.7 ± 8.6% (NS) in standard and aggressive therapies, respectively. Both standard and aggressive intervention significantly regressed coronary plaque volume by the same degree, suggesting the importance of simultaneous reductions of LDL-C and BP for prevention of CAD.