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Introduction Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) has been shown to improve outcomes in comatose Post-Cardiac Arrest Syndrome (PCAS) patients. It is unclear how long it takes these patients to regain neurologic responsiveness post-arrest. We sought to determine the duration to post-arrest awakening and factors associated with times to such responsiveness. Methods We performed a retrospective chart review of consecutive TH-treated PCAS patients at three hospitals participating in a US cardiac arrest registry from 2005 to 2011. We measured the time from arrest until first documentation of "awakening", defined as following commands purposefully. Results We included 194 consecutive TH-treated PCAS patients; mean age was 57±16 years; 59% were male; 40% had an initial shockable rhythm. Mean cooling duration was 24±8h and mean rewarming time was 14±13h. Survival to discharge was 44%, with 78% of these discharged with a good neurologic outcome. Of the 85 patients who awakened, median time to awakening was 3.2 days (IQR 2.2, 4.5) post-cardiac arrest. Median time to awakening for a patient discharged in good neurological condition was 2.8 days (IQR 2.0, 4.5) vs. 4.0 days (IQR 3.5, 7.6) for those who survived to discharge without a good neurological outcome ( p =0.035). There was no significant association between initial rhythm, renal insufficiency, paralytic use, post-arrest seizure, or location of arrest and time to awakening. Conclusion In TH-treated PCAS patients, time to awakening after resuscitation was highly variable and often longer than three days. Earlier awakening was associated with better neurologic status at hospital discharge.

Objective: While the use of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) has improved outcomes after resuscitation from cardiac arrest, prognostication of survival and neurologic function remains difficult during the post-arrest time period. Bispectral index (BIS) monitoring, a non-invasive measurement of simplified electroencephalographic data, is increasingly being considered for post-arrest neurologic assessment and outcomes prediction, although data supporting the technique are limited. We hypothesized that BIS values within 24 h after resuscitation would correlate with neurologic outcomes at discharge. Methods: We prospectively collected BIS data in consecutive patients initially resuscitated from cardiac arrest and treated with TH in one academic medical center. We assessed BIS values in context of cerebral performance category (CPC) assessment on the day of discharge. Results: Data were collected in 62 post-arrest patients, of whom 26/62 (42%) survived to hospital discharge. Mean BIS values at 24 h post-resuscitation were significantly different in the survivors with CPC 1–2 (“good” outcome) vs those with CPC 3–5 (“poor” outcome) or death during hospitalization (49 ± 13 vs 30 ± 20; p < 0.001). Receiver operator characteristic analysis suggested that 24 h BIS was most predictive of CPC 1–2 outcome compared to the other timepoints; a BIS cutpoint of 45 exhibited a sensitivity of 63% and a specificity of 86%, with a positive likelihood ratio of 4.67. Sixteen patients exhibited a BIS of zero during at least one timepoint; all of these patients died during hospitalization. Conclusions: BIS monitoring values at 24 h post-resuscitation are correlated with neurologic outcomes in patients undergoing TH treatment. In 16/62 patients, a BIS of zero at any timepoint was observed, which was uniformly correlated with poor outcome after resuscitation from cardiac arrest; however, a non-zero BIS is insufficient as a sole predictor of good neurologic survival.

Comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) have high in-hospital mortality due to a complex pathophysiology that includes cardiovascular dysfunction, inflammation, coagulopathy, brain injury and persistence of the precipitating pathology. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is the only intervention that has been shown to improve outcomes in this patient population. Due to the similarities between the post-cardiac arrest state and severe sepsis, it has been postulated that early goal-directed hemodyamic optimization (EGDHO) combined with TH would improve outcome of comatose cardiac arrest survivors.We examined the feasibility of establishing an integrated post-cardiac arrest resuscitation (PCAR) algorithm combining TH and EGDHO within 6h of emergency department (ED) presentation.In May, 2005 we began prospectively identifying comatose (Glasgow Motor Score6) survivors of OHCA treated with our PCAR protocol. The PCAR patients were compared to matched historic controls from a cardiac arrest database maintained at our institution.Between May, 2005 and January, 2008, 18/20 (90%) eligible patients were enrolled in the PCAR protocol. They were compared to historic controls from 2001 to 2005, during which time 18 patients met inclusion criteria for the PCAR protocol. Mean time from initiation of TH to target temperature (33 degrees C) was 2.8h (range 0.8-23.2; SD=h); 78% (14/18) had interventions based upon EGDHO parameters; 72% (13/18) of patients achieved their EGDHO goals within 6h of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Mortality for historic controls who qualified for the PCAR protocol was 78% (14/18); mortality for those treated with the PCAR protocol was 50% (9/18) (p=0.15).In patients with ROSC after OHCA, EGDHO and TH can be implemented simultaneously.

Background Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) has revolutionized the management of comatose post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) patients. The 2008 ILCOR/AHA Consensus Statement for the treatment of PCAS suggests that goal-directed therapy, targeting mean arterial pressure (MAP), central venous pressure (CVP), and central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO 2 ), should be employed to normalize oxygen delivery. However, the optimal PCAS haemodynamic management strategy has not been defined and few objective data exist to guide clinicians. Objective To describe the haemodynamic strategies used in TH implementation studies. Methods A Medline search (time period, 3/2002 to 3/2010) was performed using the terms cardiac arrest and hypothermia, induced, then limited post-search to implementation studies of TH in comatose adults. The identified studies were examined for explicit definitions of the following terms: MAP; systolic blood pressure (SBP), CVP, ScvO 2 , pulmonary artery catheter (PAC), echocardiogram (ECHO), lactate, and volume status. Results Forty-four implementation studies were identified and 43% (19/44) of them mentioned haemodynamics in any fashion. At least one haemodynamic goal was specifically defined in 16/44 (36%). The median number defined was 4 (range 1–6); individual goals as follows: MAP, 13/44 (30%); SBP, 3/44 (7%); CVP, 5/44 (11%); ScvO 2 , 4/44 (9%); PAC, 7/44 (16%); ECHO, 7/44 (16%); lactate, 5/44 (11%); and volume status, 8/44 (18%). Conclusions Specific haemodynamic goals are defined in a minority of published TH implementation studies. Given the volatile haemodynamics of the PCAS and lack of consensus on an optimal resuscitation strategy, explicit description of haemodynamic goals should be provided in future studies.