To the Editor.—It is with interest that I read the article by Raviglione et al1 in a recent issue of the Archives. While it is interesting that patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome have a less favorable outcome from cardiopulmonary resuscitation than other patients, it would be satisfying to have some explanation for the difference.
One does not need to be an especially erudite physician to understand the risks that cardiopulmonary resuscitation poses to the rescuer, nor a particularly perspicacious physician to fear the consequences of human immunodeficiency virus infection.
I therefore wonder whether some difference in the vigor of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation effort might be responsible. One might look, for example, at how long it took for (1) artificial ventilation to be started; (2) how long it took for an intravenous access to be secured, and (3) how long it took for blood gas analyses to be obtained.