Near infrared spectrophotometry (cerebral oximetry) in predicting the return of spontaneous circulation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Asim, Kalkan; Gokhan, Ersunan; Ozlem, Bilir; Ozcan, Yavasi; Deniz, Ozel; Kamil, Kayayurt; Murat, Ziyan; Aydın, Coskun; Selman, Yeniocak

AIM We assessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients' cerebral oxygenation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) using near infrared spectrophotometry (NIRS). We evaluated the relation between a rise in patients' cerebral saturation values between the start and end of CPR and return of spontaneous circulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-three patients with unwitnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and brought to our emergency department by emergency ambulance were evaluated. Cerebral saturations from time of start of CPR were measured using NIRS. CPR was performed for a maximum of 30 min. The relation between cerebral saturations in patients with or without return of spontaneous circulation was then evaluated. RESULTS Twenty-three patients, 12 (52.2%) female and 11 (47.8%) male, with a mean age of 64.09 ± 13.66 were included. A correlation was determined between a rise in cerebral saturation measured throughout CPR and the return of spontaneous circulation (P < .001). CONCLUSION Patients whose cerebral saturation values measured with NIRS rise during CPR have a higher post-resuscitation survival rate. Monitoring of patients during CPR with this non-invasive technique may be a good method for predicting return of spontaneous circulation.