AHA 2024 breakthrough: is effective ventilation more important than a high chest compression fraction

Right after the ERC congress, the Archeon Medical team traveled to Chicago for the American Heart Association Resuscitation Science Symposium (AHA ReSS) 2024!

This event provided an excellent opportunity to engage with research teams from across America, Asia and Europe and to discuss ongoing clinical studies involving our EOlife Ventilation Feedback Device. These interactions reaffirmed the growing global interest in improving ventilation techniques during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). 

Moreover, the last day of the congress featured an insightful poster presentation by B. Yang, focusing on the relationship between chest compression fraction, ventilation quality, and patient outcomes during CPR.

Chest Compression Fraction, Bag-Mask Ventilation, and Survival from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Multicenter Study​

Poster presentation by B. Yang

This study included 1,976 patients who experienced Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA). All patients underwent resuscitation using the 30:2 compression-to-ventilation ratio, with ventilation quality assessed via thoracic bioimpedance measurements. Based on the quality of ventilation, patients were divided into two groups:

• Better ventilation group: Patients who received at least one effective lung inflation (>250mL) in more than half of the compression pauses (40% of the cohort).
  
• Poor ventilation group: Patients who received at least one effective lung inflation (>250mL) in less than half of the compression pauses (60% of the cohort).

Chest Compression Fraction (CCF) was evaluated in both groups prior to intubation. Median CCF were approximately the same in the two groups: 0.78 (0.71, 0.84) in the poor ventilation group and 0.78 (0.70, 0.83) in the better ventilation group.

The results, as depicted in the graphic below, showed that for CCF values below 85%, the survival rate was significantly higher in patients who received better ventilation compared to those with poor ventilation. 
Interestingly, the positive interaction between ventilation quality and survival outcomes was most pronounced at CCF levels of 85% or lower.
Finally, the highest survival rates were observed in patients who received better ventilation and had a CCF below 65%.

These findings challenge the long-standing belief that “more chest compression fraction = better survival” Instead, they highlight the critical role of high-performance ventilation in achieving better resuscitation results. This underscores the importance of balancing effective chest compressions with optimized ventilation—a core principle that aligns perfectly with the mission of our EOlife Ventilation Feedback Device.

(1) B.YANG, Chest Compression Fraction, Bag-mask Ventilation, And Survival From Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Multicenter Study. Presented at: AHA ReSS, Chicago, 2024 

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