Join us as we discuss Neuroprognostication after Cardiac Arrest with Clinician-Scientist, Dr Gord Boyd. Dr Boyd has dual certification in Neurology and Critical Care Medicine and is a Clinician Scientist at Queens University, Kingston, Canada. He works at the Kingston General Hospital as an Intensivist and heads a research program aimed at understanding the relationship between cerebral perfusion, delirium, and long-term neurological outcomes for ICU survivors.

He received his undergraduate degree (Psychology) from Lakehead University in his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario. That was followed by his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Alberta, where he studied the role of growth factors in peripheral nerve regeneration. In 2001 he moved to Kingston to do a post-doctoral fellowship in the Queen’s Department of Anatomy and Cell biology, examining the potential of glial cell transplantation to treat spinal cord injury. He stayed in Kingston to do his undergraduate degree in Medicine, which was followed by his residency in Neurology and fellowship in Adult Critical Care. He is an active musician and plays the drums in an all-physician band.

In this episode we discuss the importance of admitting uncertainty when it comes to neuroprognostication following cardiac arrest, allowing enough time to pass, some of the best and worst tests for clinical prognostication, usefulness of biomarkers, EEG, seizure treatment and the risk of persistent neurovegetative states.

Further Reading:

1. Nakstad ER, Stær-Jensen H, Wimmer H, et al. Late awakening, prognostic factors and long-term outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest - results of the prospective Norwegian Cardio-Respiratory Arrest Study (NORCAST). Resuscitation. 2020;149:170-179. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2019.12.031 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31926258/

2. Nolan JP, Sandroni C, Böttiger BW, et al. European Resuscitation Council and European Society of Intensive Care Medicine guidelines 2021: post-resuscitation care. Intensive Care Med. 2021;47(4):369-421. doi:10.1007/s00134-021-06368-4 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33765189/

3. Sandroni C, D'Arrigo S, Cacciola S, et al. Prediction of good neurological outcome in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest: a systematic review. Intensive Care Med. 2022;48(4):389-413. doi:10.1007/s00134-022-06618-z https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35244745/

4. Beuchat I, Novy J, Barbella G, Oddo M, Rossetti AO. EEG patterns associated with present cortical SSEP after cardiac arrest. Acta Neurol Scand. 2020;142(2):181-185. doi:10.1111/ane.13264 EEG patterns associated with present cortical SSEP after cardiac arrest - PubMed (nih.gov)