Ventricular fibrillation in a swine model of acute pediatric asphyxial cardiac arrest

Study objective: To determine cardiac rhythms in a swine model of acute pediatric asphyxial cardiac arrest. Design: Prospective electrocardiographic evaluation of 36 piglets. Setting: University hospital laboratory. Intervention: Piglets were acutely asphyxiated by endotracheal tube clamping until 10 min after loss of aortic pulsations. Resuscitative efforts were then provided. Results: None of the animals had ventricular fibrillation (VF) when loss of aortic pulsations occurred (11+/-2 min after clamping). Fourteen of the 36 piglets exhibited VF during the asphyxial insult. VF converted to asystole in four piglets prior to resuscitation. Immediately prior to resuscitation, VF occurred in 10 piglets, asystole in 19 piglets, and bradyarrhythmias in seven piglets. Conclusion: VF occurs frequently in this piglet model of prolonged asphyxial cardiac arrest, consistent with recent observations in pediatric prehospital cardiac arrests. VF occurred late in the asphyxial process. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd