Maenia Scarpino1, Giovanni Lanzo2, Riccardo Carrai1, Francesco Lolli2, Maria Luisa Migliaccio3, Maddalena Spalletti2, Adriano Peris3, Aldo Amantini1, Antonello Grippo4. 1. SODc Neurofisiopatologia, Dipartimento Neuromuscolo-Scheletrico e degli Organi di Senso, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy; Unità di Riabilitazione Neurologica, Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, IRCCS, Florence, Italy. 2. SODc Neurofisiopatologia, Dipartimento Neuromuscolo-Scheletrico e degli Organi di Senso, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy. 3. Unità di Terapia Intensiva, Dipartimento Neuromuscolo-Scheletrico e degli Organi di Senso, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy. 4. SODc Neurofisiopatologia, Dipartimento Neuromuscolo-Scheletrico e degli Organi di Senso, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy; Unità di Riabilitazione Neurologica, Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, IRCCS, Florence, Italy. Electronic address: agrippo@unifi.it.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess whether Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SEPs), recorded within 24h after ICU admission, are reliable predictors of brain death (BD) in comatose patients with acquired brain injury of various aetiologies. METHODS: SEPs were classified as absent (A), pathological (P), and normal (N). Considering SEP recordings from both hemispheres, 6 patterns were identified: NN, NP, PP, NA, AP, and AA. The final endpoint was BD. RESULTS: Of the 203 patients included in the study, 70 (34%) evolved toward BD. The survival analysis indicated that the combination of SEP patterns in a two-graded scale (grade 1: NN-NP-PP-NA, and grade 2: AP-AA), allowed for prediction of BD with the best accuracy. This aggregation predicted BD with a sensitivity of 75.7% (CI: 64-84), a specificity of 76.6% (CI: 68-83), a positive predictive value of 64.2% (CI: 53-74) and a negative predictive value of 84.3% (CI: 77-90) in overall patients, and with a sensitivity of 75.0% (CI: 63-84), a specificity of 84.9% (CI: 75-90), a positive predictive value of 77.5% (CI: 63-88) and a negative predictive value of 84.3% (CI: 74-91) when excluding cardiac arrest. CONCLUSION: It is worth including SEPs, in association with other investigations and clinical signs, in prognostic scores of BD. The early identification of patients at high risk of evolving towards BD could help physicians to optimise management.
OBJECTIVE: To assess whether Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SEPs), recorded within 24h after ICU admission, are reliable predictors of brain death (BD) in comatosepatients with acquired brain injury of various aetiologies. METHODS: SEPs were classified as absent (A), pathological (P), and normal (N). Considering SEP recordings from both hemispheres, 6 patterns were identified: NN, NP, PP, NA, AP, and AA. The final endpoint was BD. RESULTS: Of the 203 patients included in the study, 70 (34%) evolved toward BD. The survival analysis indicated that the combination of SEP patterns in a two-graded scale (grade 1: NN-NP-PP-NA, and grade 2: AP-AA), allowed for prediction of BD with the best accuracy. This aggregation predicted BD with a sensitivity of 75.7% (CI: 64-84), a specificity of 76.6% (CI: 68-83), a positive predictive value of 64.2% (CI: 53-74) and a negative predictive value of 84.3% (CI: 77-90) in overall patients, and with a sensitivity of 75.0% (CI: 63-84), a specificity of 84.9% (CI: 75-90), a positive predictive value of 77.5% (CI: 63-88) and a negative predictive value of 84.3% (CI: 74-91) when excluding cardiac arrest. CONCLUSION: It is worth including SEPs, in association with other investigations and clinical signs, in prognostic scores of BD. The early identification of patients at high risk of evolving towards BD could help physicians to optimise management.