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Cardiac Arrest in the Elderly: Epidemiology and Outcome

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Book cover Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2016

Part of the book series: Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine ((AUICEM))

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Abstract

As a result of the combined effect of decreasing fertility and increasing life expectancy, the world’s population is ageing rapidly, and the process has accelerated in the last three decades. For the first time since the beginning of recorded history, elderly people are outnumbering young children [1]. By 2050, the numbers of people aged 60 years and over will have more than doubled, increasing from 901 million in 2015 to 2.1 billion [2]. The numbers of people aged 80 years and over will more than triple, increasing from 125 million in 2015 to 464 million in 2050. Although Europe has currently the highest percentage (24%) of people older than 60 years of age, the fastest growth in this age group is occurring in Asia, Africa and Latin America, so that relevant ageing will affect the whole world population in the next 30 years [2].

Consistently with a progressive ageing of the world population, the number of cardiac arrests in older people is expected to increase in the next decades. This will raise a series of social, ethical, and economic concerns. Given the inherent frailty of aged patients and the high rates of death or persistent disability associated with cardiac arrest, resuscitation of many aged patients may be seen as inappropriate. To assist with decisions on providing resuscitation in these patients, healthcare providers will need to predict as accurately as possible the likelihood of survival with an acceptable quality of life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Catholic University School of Medicine, 00168, Rome, Italy

    C. Sandroni, S. D’Arrigo & M. Antonelli

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  1. C. Sandroni
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  2. S. D’Arrigo
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  3. M. Antonelli
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Correspondence to C. Sandroni .

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  1. Université libre de Bruxelles Dept. of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent

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Sandroni, C., D’Arrigo, S., Antonelli, M. (2016). Cardiac Arrest in the Elderly: Epidemiology and Outcome. In: Vincent, JL. (eds) Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2016. Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27349-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27349-5_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-27348-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-27349-5

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