Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40433137›Full record

ArticleCJC open2025

Factors Associated With Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Therapy After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Michael D Elfassy, Mena Gewarges, Steve Fan, Bianca McLean, Dustin Tanaka, Amrita Bagga, Stephen A Bennett, Isabella Janusonis, Shamara Nadarajah, Clara Osei-Yeboah and 7 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in CJC open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Michael D ElfassyDivision of Cardiology, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mena GewargesDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Steve FanDivision of Cardiology, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bianca McLeanDepartment of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Dustin TanakaDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Amrita BaggaDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Stephen A BennettDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Isabella JanusonisDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Shamara NadarajahDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Clara Osei-YeboahDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jeremy RoshDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Daniel TeitelbaumDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jaime C SklarDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Manpreet BasuitaDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Damon C ScalesDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Adriana C LukDepartment of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Paul DorianDivision of Cardiology, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of global mortality. Most patients get hypoxic brain injury, which often leads to the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy (WLST) because of concerns of poor neurologic prognosis. This study describes the rates and reasons for WLST and identifies factors associated with early WLST, defined as occurring within 72 hours of admission. Methods: We conducted a multicentered, retrospective cohort study of adult OHCA patients admitted to 3 large academic hospitals in Toronto from January 2012 to December 2019. Data were extracted from medical records and analyzed using descriptive statistics and cause-specific hazards regression models to identify factors associated with WLST and documented goals of care (GOC) discussions. Results: Among 264 patients (median age 66 years, 76.5% male), the in-hospital mortality rate was 62.1%. Of the nonsurvivors, 67.1% died following WLST (90% of cases because of concern of poor neurologic prognosis), with 50% of WLST occurring <72 hours from admission. Formal declaration of brain death only occurred 9.8% of the time. Older age significantly increased the risk of early WLST. GOC discussions were documented only 56.4% of the time in the overall cohort and significantly associated with WLST across all time periods. Conclusions: This study highlights the high incidence of WLST, and specifically early WLST, in OHCA patients. GOC discussions are routinely undocumented and is associated with a higher likelihood of WLST. These findings underscore heterogeneity of practice, and the influence of GOC discussions in education and shared decision making.

Identifiers

PMID40433137
PMCPMC12105735

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.