Cardiopulmonary bypass in the successful resuscitation of a 28-year-old woman with cardiac arrest.

This patient remained hospitalized for several weeks, and her stay was relatively uneventful. She extubated herself 2 days after admission, after an operative procedure to remove the cannulas and repair the right femoral cutdown site. A fasciotomy of her right calf was done for compartment syndrome. The patient had minor neurologic deficits of short-term memory loss and spatial depth perception loss. These deficits, attributed to postresuscitative hypoxia, eventually resolved. Extensive cardiac testing performed to pinpoint the underlying cause of her cardiac dysfunction were inconclusive. Because no cause was found, an automatic implantable cardiodefribrillator was recommended to prevent future cardiac events. The patient agreed and the device was implanted before her discharge. With expert occupational therapy, physical rehabilitation, nursing care, and medical treatment the patient regained her previous level of functioning. Her October wedding was postponed to December, but she was able to return to work in November 1990.