Neuroprognostication following out of hospital cardiac arrest - a retrospective study of departmental practice

Introduction Predicting those who are likely to survive with good neurological outcome following out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is important for patients, their carers and society however prognostication following OHCA is difficult. The European Resuscitation Council and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) have published an advisory statement regarding prognostication in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest [1]. The guidelines recommend a multimodal approach, which includes somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs), diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences and a period of prolonged clinical observation in cases where prognosis is uncertain, however, some recommended investigations, for example SSEPs and MRI are inconsistently available, even in large university teaching hospitals.