Is the pathophysiology of cardiopulmonary arrest in children similar to that in adults?
No. Cardiopulmonary arrests in children most commonly involve primary respiratory failure with subsequent cardiac arrest.
Furthermore, cardiopulmonary arrests in children generally follow progressive deterioration and usually do not occur as sudden events.
Exceptions to this statement include cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), major trauma, and certain primary cardiac events.
Because arrest follows most often from primary respiratory failure in children, unlike in adult bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), in which only chest compressions are now emphasized, rescue breathing is still recommended during resuscitation of children.
