Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Octogenarians and Nonagenarians

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Abstract
WHILE the risk of sudden cardiac death increases with age,1 the survival benefit in elderly patients from out-of-hospital resuscitation is controversial. Some studies demonstrate an inverse relation2-6 between age and survival, but others show no relation at all.7-11 Also, elderly patients may have worse neurological outcomes, although other studies3,5,12 found this was not significantly different between younger and older patients. Elderly patients have been defined as the population older than 70 years, but as life expectancy has increased, this definition may not be as relevant as before.13 Studies2,12,14 that have commented on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in octogenarians and nonagenarians have been limited by small numbers of these patients.