Management of Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation (Prehospital and Emergency Department)

Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation in Traumatic Cardiac Arrest: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…The incidence of refractory VF is estimated to be between 0.5 and 0.6 per 100,000 persons [2]. When refractory VF presents, mortality rates are estimated to be between 85% and 97% [8].…”

“…Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia that causes loss of heart function and sudden death. On an electrocardiogram (ECG), VF is defined as a disorganized and irregular electrical activity with no discernable pattern [ 2 ]. Inspection of the ventricles would show them to be quivering rather than beating [ 3 ].…”

Effect of amiodarone and lidocaine on shock-refractory cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The effectiveness of defibrillation is affected by many elements, including the quality of chest compression, electrical current flow through the chest, and exclusion of potentially reversible causes of sudden cardiac arres, [26][27][28][29] and the use of antiarrhythmic drugs including amiodarone and lidocaine in shockable rhythms. 30 However, the choice of the drug used for shockable rhythms in sudden cardiac arrest may affect the survival of patients, the duration of the resuscitation, and thus, the neurological prognosis and quality of life.…”

Introductory Chapter: Cardiac Disease - Plague in the Modern World

“…Although the majority of patients with refractory VF do not respond to conventional therapy, recent trials of novel strategies demonstrate encouraging results [2]. For example, some recent reports pointed out that double sequential defibrillation can be a viable alternative to the classical approaches for the management of shockrefractory VF [3].…”