▲ (from the left) Professors Sang-Wook Lee and Professor Ji-Hoon Sim

Even if cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is continuously performed on a patient in cardiac arrest, the likelihood of survival decreases significantly if breathing and blood circulation are not restored. A recent study found that the sooner extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an artificial heart-lung support device, is implemented, the higher the chances of patient survival.

A research team led by Professor Sang-Wook Lee and Professor Ji-Hoon Sim from the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Asan Medical Center analyzed data from 1,950 patients who received CPR at Asan Medical Center between March 2019 and April 2023. Of these, 198 patients received ECMO during CPR. The researchers categorized these patients into three groups based on the time to ECMO implementation: within 20 minutes, 20-40 minutes, and more than 40 minutes.

The study examined the correlation between the time from CPR initiation to ECMO implementation and mortality rates. The results showed that the 30-day mortality rate was 23.2% in the group that received ECMO within 20 minutes. In contrast, the group that received ECMO more than 40 minutes after the start of CPR had a significantly higher 30-day mortality rate of 37.4%. These findings indicate that when the time between CPR initiation and ECMO intervention exceeds 40 minutes, mortality rates increase significantly.

Professor Sang-Wook Lee stated, “This study confirms that reducing the interval between the start of CPR and the initiation of ECMO is crucial to improving patient survival rates.”

The results of this study were recently published in the prestigious medical journal, ‘Journal of Internal Medicine.’