T h e ne w e ngl a nd jou r na l o f m e dicine n engl j med 369;23 nejm.org december 5, 2013

These Guidelines are based on the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) 2015 Consensus on Science and Treatment Recommendations (CoSTR) for ALS. 4 The 2015 ILCOR review focused on 42 topics organised in the approximate sequence of ALS interventions: defibrillation, airway, oxygenation and ventilation, circulatory support, monitoring during CPR, and drugs during CPR. For these Guidelines the ILCOR recommendations were supplemented by focused literature reviews undertaken by the ERC ALS Writing Group for those topics not reviewed in the 2015 ILCOR CoSTR. Guidelines were drafted and agreed by the ALS Writing Group members before final approval by the ERC General Assembly and ERC Board. Summary of changes since 2010 GuidelinesThe 2015 ERC ALS Guidelines have a change in emphasis aimed at improved care and implementation of these guidelines in order to improve patient focused outcomes. 5 The 2015 ERC ALS Guidelines do not include any major changes in core ALS interventions since the previous ERC guidelines published in 2010. 1,2 The key changes since 2010 are:• Continuing emphasis on the use of rapid response systems for care of the deteriorating patient and prevention of in-hospital cardiac arrest. • Continued emphasis on minimally interrupted high-quality chest compressions throughout any ALS intervention: chest

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Objective:To identify reliable predictors of outcome in comatose patients after cardiac arrest using a single routine EEG and standardized interpretation according to the terminology proposed by the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society.Methods:In this cohort study, 4 EEG specialists, blinded to outcome, evaluated prospectively recorded EEGs in the Target Temperature Management trial (TTM trial) that randomized patients to 33°C vs 36°C. Routine EEG was performed in patients still comatose after rewarming. EEGs were classified into highly malignant (suppression, suppression with periodic discharges, burst-suppression), malignant (periodic or rhythmic patterns, pathological or nonreactive background), and benign EEG (absence of malignant features). Poor outcome was defined as best Cerebral Performance Category score 3–5 until 180 days.Results:Eight TTM sites randomized 202 patients. EEGs were recorded in 103 patients at a median 77 hours after cardiac arrest; 37% had a highly malignant EEG and all had a poor outcome (specificity 100%, sensitivity 50%). Any malignant EEG feature had a low specificity to predict poor prognosis (48%) but if 2 malignant EEG features were present specificity increased to 96% (p < 0.001). Specificity and sensitivity were not significantly affected by targeted temperature or sedation. A benign EEG was found in 1% of the patients with a poor outcome.Conclusions:Highly malignant EEG after rewarming reliably predicted poor outcome in half of patients without false predictions. An isolated finding of a single malignant feature did not predict poor outcome whereas a benign EEG was highly predictive of a good outcome.

High, serial NSE values are strong predictors of poor outcome after OHCA. Targeted temperature management at 33°C or 36°C does not significantly affect NSE levels. (Target Temperature Management After Cardiac Arrest [TTM]; NCT01020916).

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Prognostication of neurologic outcome after cardiac arrest is an important but challenging aspect of patient therapy management in critical care units. OBJECTIVE To determine whether serum neurofilament light chain (NFL) levels can be used for prognostication of neurologic outcome after cardiac arrest. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective clinical biobank study of data from the randomized Target Temperature Management After Cardiac Arrest trial, an international, multicenter study with 29 participating sites. Patients were included between November 11, 2010, and January 10, 2013. Serum NFL levels were analyzed between August 1 and August 23, 2017, after trial completion. A total of 782 unconscious patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac origin were eligible. EXPOSURES Serum NFL concentrations analyzed at 24, 48, and 72 hours after cardiac arrest with an ultrasensitive immunoassay. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Poor neurologic outcome at 6-month follow-up, defined according to the Cerebral Performance Category Scale as cerebral performance category 3 (severe cerebral disability), 4 (coma), or 5 (brain death). RESULTS Of 782 eligible patients, 65 patients (8.3%) were excluded because of issues with aliquoting, missing sampling, missing outcome, or transport problems of samples. Of the 717 patients included (91.7%), 580 were men (80.9%) and median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 65 (56-73) years. A total of 360 patients (50.2%) had poor neurologic outcome at 6 months. Median (IQR) serum NFL level was significantly increased in the patients with poor outcome vs good outcome at 24 hours (1426 [299-3577] vs 37 [20-70] pg/mL), 48 hours (3240 [623-8271] vs 46 [26-101] pg/mL), and 72 hours (3344 [845-7838] vs 54 [30-122] pg/mL) (P < .001 at all time points), with high overall performance (area under the curve, 0.94-0.95) and high sensitivities at high specificities (eg, 69% sensitivity with 98% specificity at 24 hours). Serum NFL levels had significantly greater performance than the other biochemical serum markers (ie, tau, neuron-specific enolase, and S100). At comparable specificities, serum NFL levels had greater sensitivity for poor outcome compared with routine electroencephalogram, somatosensory-evoked potentials, head computed tomography, and both pupillary and corneal reflexes (ranging from 29.2% to 49.0% greater for serum NFL level). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Findings from this study suggest that the serum NFL level is highly predictive marker of long-term poor neurologic outcome at 24 hours after cardiac arrest and may be a useful complement to currently available neurologic prognostication methods.

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