Direct or Subacute Coronary Angiography in Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest

The study is a prospective randomized open label multicenter study with a registry follow up in which patients with out of hospital cardiac arrest without ST-elevation on their first ECG will be randomized to either a strategy of immediate coronary angiography (treatment group) with possible coronary intervention or a strategy of delayed coronary angiography (control group). The study will include in total 1006 patients with Restoration of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC). Randomization will be done via a web-based module after ECG is taken at the first medical contact but no later than after arrival at the emergency room. Coronary angiography should be performed within 120 minutes from randomization in the immediate angiography group. In the delayed angiography group, angiography with possible coronary intervention will be performed at the discretion of the interventional cardiologist and should preferably not be performed until three days after the cardiac arrest. This strategy is in accordance with standard practice. In case of recurrent chest pain, ST elevation, circulatory instability or cardiogenic shock, cross over to early angiography may occur. The quality of life and health economics will be evaluated at 6 months. The patients will undergo extensive neurocognitive tests and health instruments, these will be analyzed and presented.

Inclusion criteria

• Witnessed out of hospital cardiac arrest
• Restoration of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC) >20 minutes
• Coronary angiography is expected to be performed within 120 minutes from inclusion and randomization at hospital

Exclusion criteria

• Patient age <18 years
• Obvious extracardiac genesis of cardiac arrest such as trauma, hemorrhagic shock, and / or asphyxia (eg drowning, suffocation, hanging, exposure to fire smoke)
• Terminally ill patients with a life expectancy of less than 1 year
• Patients with ST-elevation
• Known pregnancy
• Patient awake GCS >8 (Glasgow Coma Scale)