Standardised and automated assessment of head computed tomography reliably predicts poor functional outcome after cardiac arrest: a prospective multicentre study.

PURPOSE: Application of standardised and automated assessments of head computed tomography (CT) for neuroprognostication after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. METHODS: Prospective, international, multicentre, observational study within the Targeted Hypothermia versus Targeted Normothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (TTM2) trial. Routine CTs from adult unconscious patients obtained > 48 h ≤ 7 days post-arrest were assessed qualitatively and quantitatively by seven international raters blinded to clinical information using a pre-published protocol. Grey-white-matter ratio (GWR) was calculated from four (GWR-4) and eight (GWR-8) regions of interest manually placed at the basal ganglia level. Additionally, GWR was obtained using an automated atlas-based approach. Prognostic accuracies for prediction of poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale 4-6) for the qualitative assessment and for the pre-defined GWR cutoff < 1.10 were calculated. RESULTS: 140 unconscious patients were included; median age was 68 years (interquartile range [IQR] 59-76), 76% were male, and 75% had poor outcome. Standardised qualitative assessment and all GWR models predicted poor outcome with 100% specificity (95% confidence interval [CI] 90-100). Sensitivity in median was 37% for the standardised qualitative assessment, 39% for GWR-8, 30% for GWR-4 and 41% for automated GWR. GWR-8 was superior to GWR-4 regarding prognostic accuracies, intra- and interrater agreement. Overall prognostic accuracy for automated GWR (area under the curve [AUC] 0.84, 95% CI 0.77-0.91) did not significantly differ from manually obtained GWR. CONCLUSION: Standardised qualitative and quantitative assessments of CT are reliable and feasible methods to predict poor functional outcome after cardiac arrest. Automated GWR has the potential to make CT quantification for neuroprognostication accessible to all centres treating cardiac arrest patients.

[Tetanus, an almost forgotten but serious disease]. / Tetanus ­ nästan bortglömd men allvarlig sjukdom - Äldre kvinnor är en riskgrupp, diagnosen kan vara en utmaning.

Tetanus, an almost forgotten but serious disease Tetanus is the systemic consequence of a local infection with Clostridium tetani, that produces toxin which spreads in the systemic circulation. In developed countries, it is extremely rare. Women born before 1950 are a group at risk due to lower prevalence of immunisation. This report describes a case of tetanus. The patient is a previously healthy 82-year-old woman. She presented to primary care with a complaint of stiffness in the neck and jaw. A physical exam and basic laboratory tests were normal apart from a slightly increased blood pressure. Later the same day she was admitted to the intensive care unit for suspected tetanus. During the night she deteriorated with marked stiffness in her thorax and, as a result of this, severe respiratory distress. After induction of anesthesia she was ventilated and intubated without problem. The treatment for tetanus, an antibody, was given 5 hours later after urgent delivery from the national supply. The patient was successfully weaned from the ventilator after 37 days. During intensive care she had fluctuating stiffness and autonomic instability, both commonly described in patients with tetanus.