The criteria for entry into these trials were similar: ROSC,
patients remaining intubated and ventilated, with persistent
coma after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to VF. In the
European study, the median Glasgow Coma Scale score on
hospital admission in both groups was 3 with an interquartile
range of 3 to 5 in the group with normothermia and 3 to 4 in
the group with hypothermia.20 Ten patients in the European
study were resuscitated after in-hospital cardiac arrest (M.
Holzer, written communication, October 2002). Additional
criteria for entry into the European study were witnessed
cardiac arrest, an estimated interval of 5 to 15 minutes from
patient collapse to first resuscitation attempt by emergency
medical services personnel, and an interval of 60 minutes
from collapse to ROSC. Both studies excluded arrests that
were probably of noncardiac etiology and patients with
severe cardiogenic shock.