Lactate Clearance and Outcomes After Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation

Rapid reductions in serum lactate levels have been associated with lower mortality in patients with sepsis and trauma, however, little is known about the effect in survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) who have been treated with therapeutic hypothermia. Researchers analyzed data from 2007 to 2012 from the Korean Hypothermia Network registry for adults with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in the field (14) or emergency department (429) after nontraumatic OHCA who underwent therapeutic hypothermia and had serum lactate measured within 1 hour after ROSC.

Of the 443 patients, 57% survived to hospital discharge, and 22% had favorable neurologic outcomes. Lactate levels measured within the first hour of resuscitation were sig…