ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Our objective was to assess the utility of the 1-h suppression ratio (SR) as a biomarker of cerebral injury and neurologic prognosis after cardiac arrest (CA) in the pediatric hospital setting. METHODS: Prospectively, we reviewed data from children presenting after CA and monitored by continuous electroencephalography (cEEG). Patients aged 1 month to 21 years were included. The SR, a quantitative measure of low-voltage cEEG (≤ 3 µV) content, was dichotomized as present or absent if there was > 0% suppression for one continuous hour. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed including age, sex, type of CA (i.e., in-hospital or out-of-hospital), and the presence of SR as a predictor of global anoxic cerebral injury as confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: We included 84 patients with a median age of 4 years (interquartile range 0.9-13), 64% were male, and 49% (41/84) had in-hospital CA. Cerebral injury was seen in 50% of patients, of whom 65% had global injury. One-hour SR presence, independent of amount, predicted cerebral injury with 81% sensitivity (95% confidence interval (CI) (66-91%) and 98% specificity (95% CI 88-100%). Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that SR was a significant predictor of both cerebral injury (ß = 6.28, p < 0.001) and mortality (ß = 3.56, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The SR a sensitive and specific marker of anoxic brain injury and post-CA mortality in the pediatric population. Once detected in the post-CA setting, the 1-h SR may be a useful threshold finding for deployment of early neuroprotective strategies prior or for prompting diagnostic neuroimaging.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine features of paroxysmal events and background electroencephalographic (EEG) abnormalities associated with electroclinical seizures in critically ill children who undergo continuous video EEG to characterize clinical events. METHODS: This is a prospective study of critically ill children from July 2016 to October 2018. Non-neonates with continuous video EEG indication to characterize a clinical event were included. Patients with continuous video EEG to assess for subclinical seizures due to unexplained encephalopathy and those whose event of concern were not captured on continuous video EEG were excluded. The event to be characterized was taken from documented descriptions of health care providers and classified as motor, ocular, orobuccal, autonomic, and other. In patients with more than 1 component to their paroxysmal event, the events were classified as motor plus and nonmotor plus. RESULTS: One hundred patients met inclusion and exclusion criteria, with electroclinical seizures captured in 30% (30/100). The most common event to be characterized was an autonomic event in 32% (32/100). Asymmetry and epileptiform discharges were associated with electroclinical seizures (odds ratio [OR] 2.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-6.5, P = .03; and OR 12.5, 95% CI 4.4-35.6, P < .0001). Autonomic events alone, particularly unexplained vital sign changes, were not associated with electroclinical seizures (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.11-0.93, P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: Isolated autonomic events are unlikely to be electroclinical seizures. Details of the paroxysmal events in question can help decide which patient will benefit most from continuous video EEG based on institutional resources.
