Acute cardiac care & resuscitation
Time to Return of Spontaneous Circulation and Long-Term Outcomes in Bystander-Witnessed Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survivors
Authors' conclusion
In bystander-witnessed 30-day OHCA survivors, prolonged resuscitation does not preclude recovery, time-to-ROSC was associated with anoxic brain damage but not nursing home admission, return-to-work, or long-term survival.
Study context
- Population
- Adults with bystander-witnessed Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) (2016–2023) surviving ≥30 days, without prior anoxic brain damage or nursing home admission78% male, median age 65, median time-to-ROSC 14 min · A 875 · B 869 · C 839
- Participants
- 2,583 adults
- Exposure
- Outcomes stratified by time-to-ROSC
- An = 875reference
- Bn = 869
- Cn = 839
Methodological detailsDanish Cardiac Arrest Registry, multivariable regression, time-to-event analyses
- Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry
- Multivariable regression
- Time-to-event analyses
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Anoxic brain damage · 11- month
Each group vs AHazard ratio (95% CI)
B
5.58(1.58–19.64)
C
9.98(2.93–33.96)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Nursing home admission · 11- month
- Nursing home admission: p=0.04
- Nursing home admission: adjustments attenuated the association (p=0.3)
Long-term survival · 5-year
- Kaplan-Meier estimate, similar across groups
- 79%; 95% CI 77-81%
- p = 0.80
- Adjusted p = 0.99
Return-to-work among employed patients (n=177, 168, 179) · 5-year
- Cumulative incidence, similar across groups
- 60%; 95% CI 56-65%
- p = 0.31
- Adjusted p = 0.29
Original publication
Time to Return of Spontaneous Circulation and Long-Term Outcomes in Bystander-Witnessed Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survivors. Resuscitation. Published 6 October 2026. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it