The goal of the Experimental Resuscitation Research Group is the further development of existing resuscitation methods and the development of new therapies to improve survival after cardiovascular arrest. In doing so, we try to extend the period of time during which patients can still be resuscitated after a cardiovascular arrest.
A further goal is to investigate the pathophysiological processes triggered by cardiovascular arrest, which are further enhanced by resuscitation and reperfusion, at the cellular level. In particular, cells of the central nervous system are used to study the mechanisms and effects of cardiovascular arrest.
Our research group was founded by the research stays of Fritz Sterz and Wilhelm Behringer at the Safar Center (Pittsburgh, USA) with Peter Safar, one of the most important founding fathers of modern resuscitation research. In addition to fundamental work on therapeutic hypothermia - the cooling of the body after cardiac arrest to reduce cell damage to the nervous system caused by cardiovascular arrest - the foundations were also laid for Peter Safar's approach of not resuscitating patients in cardiovascular arrest on the spot under unfavorable conditions. In this approach, victims of circulatory arrest are placed in a cooled state in which the body can be transported to the hospital without further damage. In the hospital, using all available modern medical measures, equipment and personnel, the patient is then resuscitated under controlled and optimized conditions.
These scientific approaches are the basis of the work in the experimental laboratory of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Medical University of Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, in order to develop new and improved methods in the animal model in the spirit of translational research, in order to then bring these to clinical application.
Janata, A., et al., Therapeutic hypothermia with a novel surface cooling device improves neurologic outcome after prolonged cardiac arrest in swine. Crit Care Med, 2008. 36(3): p. 895-902.
Janata, A., et al., Cold aortic flush and chest compressions enable good neurologic outcome after 15 mins of ventricular fibrillation in cardiac arrest in pigs. Crit Care Med, 2010. 38(8): p. 1637-43.
Weihs, W., et al., The importance of surface area for the cooling efficacy of mild therapeutic hypothermia. Resuscitation, 2011. 82(1): p. 74-8.
Ettl, F., et al., Establishing a Rodent Model of Ventricular Fibrillation Cardiac Arrest With Graded Histologic and Neurologic Damage With Different Cardiac Arrest Durations. Shock, 2018. 50(2): p. 219-225.
Magnet, I.A.M., et al., Extracorporeal Life Support Increases Survival After Prolonged Ventricular Fibrillation Cardiac Arrest in the Rat. Shock, 2017. 48(6): p. 674-680.
Warenits, A.M., et al., Motor Cortex and Hippocampus Display Decreased Heme Oxygenase Activity 2 Weeks After Ventricular Fibrillation Cardiac Arrest in Rats. Front Med (Lausanne), 2020. 7: p. 513.
Weihs, W., et al., CA1 Hippocampal Pyramidal Cells in Rats, Resuscitated From 8 Minutes of Ventricular Fibrillation Cardiac Arrest, Recover After 20 Weeks of Survival: A Retrospective Pilot Study. Shock, 2020. 54(4): p. 531-538.
- Florian Ettl
- Ingrid Anna Maria Magnet
- Matthias Müller
- Alexander Szinovatz
- Alexandra Maria Warenits
- Sandra Högler, Institut für Pathologie, Abteilung für Labortierpathologie, VetMedUniWien
- J.Catharina Duvigneau, Institut für Medizinische Biochemie, VetMedUniWien
- Andrey Kozlov, LBI für experimentelle und klinische Traumatologie,
Lorenz Böhler KH
- Samuel Brandl
- Carmen Huber
- Magdalena Schober
- Jasmin Simon
- Katharina Topil