American Heart Association (AHA) updated the advanced cardiovascular life support use of antiarrhythmic drugs during and immediately after cardiac arrest in the AHA guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care in November 2018. Based on the latest progress of relative evidence-based clinical evidence and 2015 AHA guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and cardiovascular emergency cardiovascular care. This update gave recommends on the use of antiarrhythmic drugs during resuscitation from adult shock-refractory ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia (pVT) cardiac arrest and immediately after restoration of spontaneous circulation following shock-refractory VF/pVT cardiac arrest, respectively. This review aims to interpret this update by reviewing the literature and comparing the recommends in this update with other guidelines.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a very important treatment after cardiac arrest. The optimal treatment strategy of CPR is uncertain. With the accumulation of clinical medical evidence, the CPR treatment recommendations have been changed. This article will review the current hot issues and progress, including the pathophysiological mechanisms of CPR, how to achieve high-quality chest compression, how to achieve CPR quality monitoring, how to achieve optimal CPR for different individuals and how to use antiarrhythmic drugs.