Cardiac rhythm analysis during ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation using the Analysis During Compressions with Fast Reconfirmation technology

BACKGROUND: Pauses in chest compressions (CCs) have a negative association with survival from cardiac arrest. Electrocardiographic (ECG) rhythm analysis and defibrillator charging are significant contributors to CC pauses.

OBJECTIVE: Accuracy of the Analysis During Compressions with Fast Reconfirmation (ADC-FR) algorithm, which features automated rhythm analysis and charging during CCs to reduce CC pauses, was retrospectively determined in a large database of ECGs from 2701 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

METHODS: The ADC-FR algorithm generated a total of 7264 advisories, of which 3575 were randomly assigned to a development data set and 3689 to a test data set. With ADC-FR, a high-pass digital filter is used to remove CC artifacts, while the underlying ECG rhythm is automatically interpreted. When CCs are paused at the end of the 2-minute cardiopulmonary resuscitation interval, a 3-second reconfirmation analysis is performed using the artifact-free ECG to confirm the shock/no-shock advisory. The sensitivity and specificity of the ADC-FR algorithm in correctly identifying shockable/nonshockable rhythms during CCs were calculated.

RESULTS: In both data sets, the accuracy of the ADC-FR algorithm for each ECG rhythm exceeded the recommended performance goals, which apply to a standard artifact-free ECG analysis. Sensitivity and specificity were 97% and 99%, respectively, for the development data set and 95% and 99% for the test data set.

CONCLUSION: The ADC-FR algorithm is highly accurate in discriminating shockable and nonshockable rhythms and can be used to reduce CC pauses.