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Peter G. Tuteur, MD; Susan D. Tuteur, PhD

JAMA. 1990;264(16):2118.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In a time of concern about limited health care resources, it is reasonable to question the efficacy of their use. Two studies in this issue of THE JOURNAL focus on life-sustaining therapies. When is their use appropriate?

Longstreth and colleagues¹ look at out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). They ask: Can the elderly benefit from this procedure? A review of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests treated by paramedics over a recent 5-year period in Seattle, Wash, reveals that 140 persons (10%) 70 years and older were resuscitated, admitted to a hospital, and discharged alive; of these, 112 went home. From these data, Longstreth et al conclude, "Elderly patients can benefit from attempted resuscitation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest."

Also in this issue, Murphy and Matcher² explore a way to understand how life-sustaining therapies benefit patients. In an attempt to be at once critical and objective, they propose a mathematical model that quantifies . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, Washington University School of Medicine (Dr Peter Tuteur), and the Department of Sociology, Washington University (Dr Susan Tuteur), St Louis, Mo.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S Euclid, Box 8043, St Louis, MO 63110 (Dr Peter Tuteur)..

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