Brain MRI for Prognostication After Pediatric Cardiac Arrest

Accurate neuroprognostication after cardiac arrest is important for families and may influence discussions about goals of care; however, this is a dynamic process that takes many clinical factors into account. These authors investigated the prognostic utility of brain MRI performed within 14 days after pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. They used predefined MRI regions to create a pediatric MRI-modified Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography score (modASPECTS) and defined unfavorable outcome as a change in Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category (PCPC) score ≥1 that resulted in a hospital discharge PCPC score ≥3 (moderate disability to death).

From a cohort of 77 consecutive cases at one hospital, 45 patients (58%) had an un…