The Prognostic Value of Simplified EEG in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients

BACKGROUND: We previously validated simplified electroencephalogram (EEG) tracings obtained by a bispectral index (BIS) device against standard EEG. This retrospective study now investigated whether BIS EEG tracings can predict neurological outcome after cardiac arrest (CA). METHODS: Bilateral BIS monitoring (BIS VISTA™, Aspect Medical Systems, Inc. Norwood, USA) was started following intensive care unit admission. Six, 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48 h after targeted temperature management (TTM) at 33 °C was started, BIS EEG tracings were extracted and reviewed by two neurophysiologists for the presence of slow diffuse rhythm, burst suppression, cerebral inactivity and epileptic activity (defined as continuous, monomorphic, > 2 Hz generalized sharp activity or continuous, monomorphic,