The figures below are what published data show for 100 patients who receive CPR in the hospital — at each step from cardiac arrest to one year afterward.
Approximately 290,000 hospitalized adults in the US experience cardiac arrest annually. When the heart stops, the medical team initiates CPR — chest compressions, intubation, and defibrillation when the rhythm is shockable.
Resuscitation typically continues for 20 to 45 minutes.
Approximately half of in-hospital CPR attempts result in return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) — the heart begins to beat on its own again. ROSC is the immediate goal of resuscitation but does not predict longer-term outcome.
Following ROSC, most patients spend days to weeks in the ICU on mechanical ventilation. Multiple organ systems were affected by the period without circulation, and recovery is variable.
By the time of hospital discharge, approximately 17 of the original 100 patients are alive.
Survival to discharge does not equal discharge to home. Of the 17 who leave the hospital, approximately 7 go home, 9 are discharged to skilled nursing facilities or long-term care hospitals, and 1 enters hospice.
Of the 17 who left the hospital, mortality is highest in the first 90 days. At one year, approximately 10 of the original 100 patients are alive — some at home, some in nursing facilities, with varying rates of readmission.
This composite outcome — alive, at home, and not readmitted to the hospital at one year — is the measure many studies use to define a good outcome from resuscitation.
For elderly patients with serious chronic illness, the figure falls to approximately 1 to 2 of 100.
The data on this page come from the Get With The Guidelines–Resuscitation registry, a voluntary system. Participating hospitals (approximately 600 of 6,100 US hospitals) tend to be larger and more academic, with potentially different outcomes than non-participating institutions.