Abstracts

Electroencephalography Predictors of Functional Outcome After Cardiac Arrest

Abstract number : 1.25
Submission category : 3. Neurophysiology / 3B. ICU EEG
Year : 2024
Submission ID : 1269
Source : www.aesnet.org
Presentation date : 12/7/2024 12:00:00 AM
Published date :

Authors :
Presenting Author: Jacklyn Smith, MD, MSc. – Children's National Hospital

Julia Keenan, BSc. – Children's National Hospital
Katelyn Staso, NP – Children's National Hospital
Caroline Conley, NP – Children's National Hospital
Dana Harrar, MD – Children's National Hospital
Arnold Sansevere, MD – Children's National Hospital

Rationale: To assess electroencephalography (EEG) predictors of functional outcome after cardiac arrest (CA).


Methods: This is a retrospective review of patients with CA greater than 5 minutes who were monitored on continuous EEG at Children’s National Hospital from July 2021 to January 2023. EEG features were described using American Clinical Neurophysiology standardized critical care EEG terminology. Pediatric cerebral performance category scale (PCPC) scores were assigned at discharge. Descriptive statistics were used.


Results: Seventy-one patients were included. The average age was 9.9 years (SD=12.8), and 37% were female. Table 1 displays the number of patients stratified by EEG feature and mortality. The average PCPC score for patients with a normal background was 1.25 (SD=0.4), slow background 2.1 (SD=1.3), burst suppression 3 (SD=1.3) and an attenuated background was 5 (SD=0). A one-way ANOVA was significant for differences between the means for all groups (p< 0.01). Post-hoc analysis with the Bonferroni correction showed PCPC scores for the attenuated group were significantly higher than the slow (P< 0.01) and normal groups (p< 0.01). Patients who had epileptiform discharges also had significantly higher PCPC scores than patients who did not (3.4 [SD 1.4] v. 1.9 [SD 1.2]; P< 0.01). Similarly, patients with seizures had significantly higher PCPC scores than patients who did not (3.6 [SD 1.0] v. 2.1 [SD 1.4]; P=0.03).


Conclusions: Here we show that severity of EEG background abnormality, as well as the presence of seizures and epileptiform discharges after CA is associated with functional outcome at time of discharge. This may help providers estimate prognosis and may serve to guide treatment decisions. Further research into long-term functional outcomes in this population is warranted to see if these associations hold true over longer follow-up periods.


Funding: None.

Neurophysiology