Coronary angiography after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest without ST-elevation — meta-analysis (programme title)

OHCA-CAG meta-analysis

Patient / Population Intervention / Exposure Comparison Outcome

In patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest without ST-elevation in randomised trials of angiography timing, early coronary angiography did not improve clinical outcomes compared with delayed or selective angiography.

N

2,173patients

Design

Meta-analysis of randomised trials comparing early/immediate coronary angiography with a delayed or selective strategy after resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest without ST-elevation (protocol, trial set and analytic approach not published)

Endpoint

Survival at 30 days

Relevance

3Supporting — context rather than must-know.

ResultPooled across five randomised trials and 2,173 patients, no difference in 30-day survival between immediate coronary angiography and a deferred or selective strategy.

Pol L, et al. Presented at ESC Congress 2026, Hot Line 12, 31 August, alongside DISCO.

Discussion & critique

Presented beside DISCO and closing the question the five trials were asking: across 2,173 randomised patients, going to the catheter laboratory immediately does not change 30-day survival after cardiac arrest without ST-elevation. The pooled estimate inherits every trial's exclusion of the unstable patient, so it says nothing about the person in cardiogenic shock or with recurrent arrhythmia, who was never randomised in the first place.