Frequency of ventricular fibrillation as predictor of one-year survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

This study determined whether electrocardiographic analysis of ventricular fibrillation (VF) can predict 1-year survival from bystander-witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of cardiac origin. VF was analyzed using fast-Fourier transformation in a community in which emergency medical technicians delivered shock with an automated external defibrillator before arrival to the hospital. The frequency of VF can predict survival 1 year after hospital discharge from shock-delivered, bystander-witnessed cardiac arrests of cardiac etiology.