Follow-up of cardiac arrest survivors: Why, how, and when? a practical approach

Cardiac arrest (CA) survivors may experience cognitive, physical, or emotional problems that can affect their return to everyday activities and quality of life. To improve longterm outcomes, interventions after hospital discharge may be needed. A follow-up plan to identify CA survivors with increased risk of residual cognitive, physical, or emotional problems is important to target interventions and support. Current recommendations suggest that follow-up should include screening of potential problems, sharing information, and relevant referrals when needed. The complexity of the follow-up of CA survivors is due to the fact that several pathways of care may be offered, focusing either on the cardiovascular disease, the postintensive care syndrome, or CA-related brain injury. There is a potential to improve recovery through a more collaborative and holistic approach to follow-up. The aim of this review is to give examples of why followup after CA should be provided, but also how and when follow-up could be performed.