Vasoactive-inotropic score as a predictor of in-hospital mortality in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Background: The Vasoactive-Inotropic Score (VIS) is an objective clinical tool used to quantify the need for cardiovascular support in children and adolescents after surgery and to predict prognosis of pediatric septic shock. Considering the post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) is a sepsis-like syndrome, we aimed to investigate the correlation between VIS and in-hospital mortality in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients who achieved a sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: A retrospective chart review of 504 OHCA patients who were admitted to the emergency room with OHCA from Jan 2015 to Dec 2016 was done. VIS was calculated with the recorded administration rate of the drugs on electronic medical record at the same time during the first 24 hours in ICU. The highest value of VIS in 24 hours (24hr-peak VIS) was used for investigating the correlation between VIS and in-hospital mortality. Results: Among 504 OHCA patients, 166 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and 116 patients died during hospital stay. The probability of in hospital mortality was significantly higher when 24hr-peak VIS was higher than 33.3 [Odds ratio (OR) = 3.18, 95% CI = 1.22 - 8.29, p value = 0.018]. Conclusion: 24hr-Peak VIS could be a good scoring system for predicting in hospital mortality in OHCA patients who admitted to ICU. The AUC was 0.762 (95% CI = 0.690 to 0.825) and the optimal cut-off values were 33.3 (sensitivity 0.764, specificity 0.610).