[Therapy of cardiac arrest: cardiopulmonary resuscitation (author's transl)].

Reports of successful attempts at resuscitation have been published for more than 200 years, but systematic analysis of an optimal technique has been undertaken for only the last 20 years. As a result of these experiments and of the many years of experience of resuscitation teams, extensive recommendations were formulated by a conference on cardiopulmonary resuscitation of the "American Heart Association" in May 1973. The superiority of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in comparison to older methods and the importance of the triple-airway-maneuvre for the maintenance of a patent airway were pointed out. Despite the fact, that an exact numerical relationship of cardiac massage to artificial ventilation is not particularly important, an optimal procedure was established. However, the worldwide spread of cardiopulmonary resuscitation should not lead to this procedure being performed just somehow, since correct execution, if possible without interruptions, is essential for the effectiveness of the remaining circulation and the response to medications and defibrillation. The prognosis varies widely depending on the group of patients being examined. In 1976 34 resuscitations were performed on adult patients of the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit of the German Heart Centre in Munich (5.5% of patients admitted). Seven patients survived primarily. Of these, four patients died within the subsequent twentyfour hours. One patient survived with permanent brain damage, two could eventually be discharged from the hospital without complications.