Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
Sudden cardiac arrest has been one of the leading causes of death worldwide for many years. Without effective treatment, many patients with sudden cardiac arrest die prehospital or suffer significant neurological damage. With effective therapy that begins prehospital with good bystander resuscitation and is continued by emergency physicians on site and in the hospital, up to 60% of patients who reach the hospital alive can be discharged with good neurological outcome.
The Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna has gained great experience in the treatment of a large number of patients with cardiovascular arrest over many years and is an internationally recognized center of excellence for resuscitation research. We see ourselves as a High-Volume-Expert-Center in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular arrest and offer research and treatment of these patients at the highest international level.
The research group "CPR Research Vienna" of the Department of Emergency Medicine supports this mission through continuous development of expertise and ongoing excellent research.
Research activities range from experimental studies (neuroprotective effect of different therapies on global cerebral ischemia) to clinical studies (pre-hospital studies in cooperation with the Vienna Ambulance Service, in-hospital studies of patients in or after cardiac arrest).
The basis for all clinical research is a huge CPR registry that exists since the founding of the Department of Emergency Medicine in 1991 and in which all patients with cardiac arrest who are admitted to the Department of Emergency Medicine are recorded. In total, over 6000 patients have been included in the registry to date. In addition to scientific evaluation, this database also serves as a quality assurance tool.