Cardiac Arrest: Difference between revisions

Prognosis after cardiac arrest is difficult and cannot be fully predicted. Survival after cardiac arrest is poor, mainly due to neurological damage, and two out of three patients admitted to the ICU following cardiac arrest die from neurological injury. Most prognostic markers have been studied in the era before therapeutic hypothermia. Therefore their value in patients that are actively cooled is incompletely understood. It is not possible to predict outcome reliable within 24 hours after cardiac arrest. Clinical examination of the patient can give information on the prognosis of the patient 24 hours after cardiac arrest. After 72 hours the absence of both pupillary light and corneal reflex predict poor outcome. In patients that are not treated with therapeutic hypothermia absence of vestibulo-ocular reflexes at >24h and a Glasgow coma scale motor score of 2 or less >72 hours after return of spontaneous circulation are possible prognostic markers of a worse outcome. Furthermore myoclonal status is associated with poor outcome, but recovery can occur, and is therefore not useful in determining the prognosis. Electrophysiological studies measuring somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) after 24 hours, absence of bilateral N20 cortical response to median nerve stimulation predicts a poor outcome.