▲ (From left) Professor Won Young Kim and Professor Sang Min Kim from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Asan Medical Center 

A large-scale study has recently revealed that 4 out of 10 patients who survived cardiac arrest occurring outside the hospital and received inpatient treatment were either readmitted due to major cardiovascular events or died within a year after discharge.

Professor Won Young Kim and Professor Sang Min Kim’s team from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Asan Medical Center analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Service to examine the incidence of major cardiovascular events within one year after discharge among 32,497 patients who were hospitalized after cardiac arrest between 2010 and 2019. The results showed that 41.6% of the patients (13,527 individuals) experienced a major cardiovascular event within a year after discharge.

Among these patients, 13,527 patients (41.6%) experienced a major cardiovascular event within one year of discharge. Of this group, 27.2% died, followed by hospitalizations for heart failure (10.8%), stroke (10.4%), and acute coronary syndrome or ischemic heart disease (5.4%). Among these, death was the most common outcome at 27.2%, followed by hospitalization due to heart failure (10.8%), stroke (10.4%), and acute coronary syndrome or ischemic heart disease (5.4%).

Notably, 57.4% of all major cardiovascular events, 70.7% of strokes, and 61% of heart failure cases occurred within the first three months post-discharge. In addition, the incidence of major cardiovascular events among elderly survivors aged 65 and above was 55.5%, nearly twice as high as that of patients under 65 (29.3%). Female survivors also faced a higher risk, with 45.8% experiencing recurrent cardiovascular issues, compared to 39.5% of male survivors. Meanwhile, the median score of Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) among the cardiac arrest survivors included in the study was 1, indicating that most patients did not have serious underlying chronic diseases. Nevertheless, the cardiac arrest itself exerted significant physiological stress on the heart, brain, and vascular system, resulting in a high rate of readmission due to cardiovascular disease within one year.

Professor Won Young Kim from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Asan Medical Center stated, “Even patients without chronic conditions are at significant risk of death or cardiovascular complications after cardiac arrest. It is critical for these patients to undergo regular cardiac evaluations and rehabilitation after discharge.”

The findings of this study were recently published in ‘Circulation’, a leading international journal in the field of cardiovascular medicine published by the American Heart Association.