Factors associated with survival and neurological outcome after cardiopulmonary resuscitation of neurosurgical intensive care unit patients.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated predictors of survival and the neurological outcomes of neurosurgical patients who experienced cardiac arrest and received cardiopulmonary resuscitation after being admitted to the neurosurgical intensive care unit.


METHODS
A retrospective study was conducted of adult patients in the neurosurgical intensive care unit who had experienced cardiac arrest and received cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Factors relevant to the cardiac arrest (before and after arrest) were used to study association with survival (immediate or short-term) and neurological outcome (unconscious or conscious) via statistical methods.


RESULTS
Immediate survival was seen in 105 patients (49%), 19 survived until hospital discharge, and 11 were still alive at the conclusion of this study. Of the immediate survivors, 41 patients were conscious and 64 were unconscious. Multivariate analysis showed increased mortality in patients with infection, asystole, or resuscitation time exceeding 30 minutes (P < 0.05). Additional factors associated with high in-hospital mortality included lack of spontaneous respiration, no caloric-vestibular reflex, and unconsciousness after resuscitation (P < 0.05). In addition, neurological recovery was poor in patients with infection, asystole, no caloric-vestibular reflex, conscious recovery, or resuscitation lasting more than 30 minutes (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Even after initially successful resuscitation, survival and neurological recovery is quite dismal in patients with cerebral lesions. Prognostic factors for neurosurgical patients should be assessed on an individual basis to determine medical futility in the early post-resuscitation period.
Yi
Hyeong-Joong
HJ
Department of Neurosurgery, Hanyang University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea. hjyi8499@hanyang.ac.kr
Kim
Young-Soo
YS
Ko
Yong
Y
Oh
Suck-Jun
SJ
Kim
Kwang-Myung
KM
Oh
Seong-Hoon
SH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D003243:Consciousness; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000209:etiology; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009420:Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors