We study the resuscitation and management of patients who require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The primary factors contributing to mortality often stem from brain injury or the onset of multiple organ failure. Our research projects explore innovative strategies aimed at enhancing CPR outcomes.
The University of Pittsburgh is one of 11 hub sites for the SIREN Emergency Care Clinical Trials Network, which seeks to improve the outcomes of patients with neurologic, cardiac, respiratory, hematologic and trauma emergencies by identifying effective treatments administered in the earliest stages of critical care.
Ongoing Studies
- Patterns of Survivors' Recovery Trajectories in the ICECAP Trial (POST-ICECAP)
Many patients now survive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), however gaps in knowledge about long-term outcomes result in a fragmented and underdeveloped continuum of care to achieve recovery. Recovery is defined as significant improvement in functional and cognitive outcomes, and health- related quality of life (HRQoL). OHCA Survivors with favorable recovery patterns may potentially go back to work and/or social roles. Prior studies assessing recovery domains after OHCA are small, limited to single centers, and short-term outcomes i.e., 1-3 months. Identifying individual patient patterns of recovery over longer-term, and the ability to predict who will be likely to need more intensive support after discharge would allow interventions to be targeted more efficiently. It is also crucial that we offer patients and their families the best information available about a patient's prospects for continued recovery even in the absence of modifiable intervention targets.
This study will be among the first to focus on a new equitable science of OHCA survivorship itself, seeking empirically derived targets for preserving or restoring recovery. Our single-center pilot study has found that nearly one-third of the OHCA survivors had clinically important differences between long-term (12 months) and short-term (3 months) functional outcomes with large between-individual variability in recovery (i.e., improvement or worsening). We found that inpatient acute rehabilitation was associated with better functional recovery patterns at 12 months compared to other dispositions, but Black race and Hispanic/Latinx had worse recovery patterns than non-Hispanic Whites. To fill this gap, we propose an ancillary study to the NINDS/NHLBI-funded ICECAP trial, conducted within the 60 sites of the NIH emergency care trials network, to describe recovery (functional outcome [primary], Cognition, and HRQoL outcomes [secondary]) in a large, well-characterized, racially/ethnically diverse, representative cohort of US OHCA patients.
We will enroll 1,000 who were screened for ICECAP and survive to hospital discharge. The parent ICECAP trial includes a telephone follow-up visit at 1 month and an in-person visit at 3 months. The ancillary study will add two telephone/videoconferencing visits at 6 and 9 months and an in-person visit at 12 months after OHCA. For Aim 1, we will describe between-patient variability in recovery (i.e., improvement in functional, cognitive, and HRQoL outcomes) from 3 to 12 months after OHCA, and test whether changes are associated with illness severity scores, and critical care interventions performed during the acute care stay. Aim 2 will test whether receipt of acute inpatient rehabilitation (vs outpatient therapy/no therapy/skilled nursing facility) within 1 month of hospital discharge is associated with greater improvement in recovery outcomes from 3 to 12 months. Finally, in Aim 3, we will test whether non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic/Latinx patients have less favorable changes in recovery outcomes between 3 and 12 months and explore mechanisms for such disparities.
Principal Investigator: Clifton Callaway, MD, PhD
Site Principal Investigator: Kelly Sawyer, MD, MS
- The Effect of SPecialty cAre on Recovery From Cardiac Arrest Trial (the SPARC Trial)
Cardiac arrest is a sudden stopping of the heart, which can sometimes be reversed by rapid cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and emergency medical care. Each year, over 150,000 Americans are admitted to the hospital after receiving CPR. However, many of these patients die in the hospital. There is wide variation in patient outcomes between hospitals. A key knowledge gap about systems of care is whether specific hospital or subsequent interventions or processes of care are associated with better patient outcomes. Specifically, it is unknown if patient outcomes are improved by specialized centers or by improved implementation of recommended interventions at all hospitals.
Observational data in our region and internationally suggest that out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes are better when patients who survive CPR are hospitalized in specialty care or high-volume centers. It is unclear from these studies what are the minimal capabilities that distinguish specialty care from usual care and which aspects of specialty care are influencing outcomes.
This trial will take advantage of a regional system of care that includes 18 hospitals in southwestern Pennsylvania that treat over 1,000 patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest annually. This region includes one high-volume specialty center with specific attention to recommended interventions for this patient population, as well as several secondary and tertiary care facilities with variable resources and approaches to patient care. This randomized trial will compare outcomes for patients assigned to care at the specialty center versus other centers and will leverage the heterogeneity of treatment between centers to understand the influence of specific treatments.
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Elmer, MD, MS
Project Manager: Sara DiFiore-Sprouse, MS