TY - JOUR T1 - Mechanism of closed chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation investigated by transoesophageal echocardiography. JF - Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine JO - Arch Emerg Med SP - 139 LP - 143 DO - 10.1136/emj.11.3.139 VL - 11 IS - 3 AU - A C Pell AU - U M Guly AU - G R Sutherland AU - D J Steedman AU - P Bloomfield AU - C Robertson Y1 - 1994/09/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/11/3/139.abstract N2 - Transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) was performed during closed chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in 18 subjects in cardiac arrest. Compression of all four cardiac chambers resulted in forward flow in the pulmonary and systemic circulations, retrograde pulmonary vein flow and incomplete mitral valve closure. Antegrade pulmonary vein flow and left ventricular filling occurred exclusively during the relaxation phase. These findings support the cardiac pump theory of CPR and are incompatible with the thoracic pump mechanism. TOE merits further investigation as a device to monitor and guide resuscitation efforts during CPR. ER -