Articles: cardiac-arrest.
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Brief abstract: In a multicentre network of 28 ICUs in France and Belgium, all comatose patients who fulfilled the 2021 ERC-ESICM criteria for poor outcome after cardiac arrest died or survived with severe neurological disability, even after excluding patients with active WLST to limit self-fulfilling prophecy bias. However, in almost half of the patients, these criteria were not fulfilled, resulting in an indeterminate outcome; in these patients, normal NSE levels and benign EEG predicted neurological recovery, helping reduce prognostic uncertainty. ⋯ Among 337 included patients, the ERC-ESICM algorithm predicted poor neurological outcome in 175 patients, of whom 106 (60%) had withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (WLST). Among the 69 patients without active WLST, the positive predictive value for an unfavourable outcome was 100% [95-100]%. The specificity of individual predictors ranged from 90% for EEG to 100% for clinical examination and SSEP. Among the remaining 162 patients with indeterminate outcome, a combination of 2 favourable signs predicted good outcome with 99[96-100]% specificity and 23[11-38%]% sensitivity. Conclusion All comatose resuscitated patients not undergoing WLST who fulfilled the ERC-ESICM criteria for poor outcome after CA had poor outcome at three months, even if a self-fulfilling prophecy cannot be completely excluded. In patients with indeterminate outcome (half of the population), favourable signs predicted neurological recovery, reducing prognostic uncertainty.
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Poor neurological outcome is common following a cardiac arrest. The use of volatile anesthetic agents has been proposed during post-resuscitation to improve outcome. ⋯ In this propensity-matched control study, isoflurane sedation during the post-resuscitation care of ICU patients was associated with a lower incidence of delirium, a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation and a reduced ICU length of stay. Prospective data are needed before its widespread use.
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We aimed to estimate the effect of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) on neurological outcome and mortality, when compared to conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CCPR), using an individual patient data meta-analysis (IPDMA). ⋯ This IPDMA showed that ECPR was associated with significantly lower rates of unfavorable neurological outcome and mortality in refractory CA. The overall effect could be influenced by CA characteristics and the severity of the initial injury.
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Observational Study
Markers of Mitochondrial Injury and Neurological Outcomes of Comatose Patients after Cardiac Arrest.
Background and Objectives: Most patients who are successfully resuscitated from cardiac arrest remain comatose, and only half regain consciousness 72 h after the arrest. Neuroprognostication methods can be complex and even inconclusive. As mitochondrial components have been identified as markers of post-cardiac-arrest injury and associated with survival, we aimed to investigate cytochrome c and mtDNA in comatose patients after cardiac arrest to compare neurological outcomes and to evaluate the markers' neuroprognostic value. ⋯ Conclusions: Cytochrome c was higher in comatose patients after cardiac arrest compared to healthy controls and higher in post-cardiac-arrest patients with poor neurological outcomes. Although cytochrome c correlated with NSE, its neuroprognostic value was poor. We found no differences in mtDNA.