Outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the neonatal intensive care unit

This retrospective review of 83 infants undergoing CPR in the neonatal ICU of a teaching hospital found that 12 (14%) patients were discharged from the hospital and seven (8%) were alive at least 1 yr after discharge. From another perspective, 41% (12/29) of the patients who survived at least 24 h after CPR were discharged alive. Factors significantly (p < .05) associated with poor outcome included sepsis, oliguria 24 h before and/or after arrest, prematurity, and intraventricular hemorrhage. Variables significantly (p < .05) related to good outcome were the need for intubation during resuscitation and the diagnosis of major congenital anomalies. Intraventricular hemorrhage was the single most powerful variable in the regression analysis. Outcome statistics from this study were strikingly similar to currently available adult data.