ECPR for refractory OHCA - lessons from 3 randomized controlled trials. The trialists´view

Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a promising treatment for refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Three recent randomized trials (ARREST-trial, Prague OHCA study, and INCEPTION-trial) that addressed the clinical benefit of ECPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, yielded seemingly diverging results. The evidence for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, derived from three recent RCT's, is not contradictory but rather complementary. Excellent results can be achieved with a very high level of dedication, provided that strict selection criteria are applied. However, pragmatic implementation of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation does not necessarily lead to improved outcome of refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Centers that are performing extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or aspire to do so, should critically evaluate whether they are able to meet the prerequisites that are needed to conduct an effective extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation program.