Brain hypoxia can occur after non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), even when levels of intracranial pressure (ICP) remain normal. Brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO2) can be measured as a part of a neurological multimodal neuromonitoring. Low PbtO2 has been associated with poor neurologic recovery. There is scarce data on the impact of PbtO2 guided-therapy on patients’ outcome. This single-center cohort study (June 2014–March 2020) included all patients admitted to the ICU after SAH who required multimodal monitoring. Patients with imminent brain death were excluded. Our primary goal was to assess the impact of PbtO2-guided therapy on neurological outcome. Secondary outcome included the association of brain hypoxia with outcome. Of the 163 patients that underwent ICP monitoring, 62 were monitored with PbtO2 and 54 (87%) had at least one episode of brain hypoxia. In patients that required treatment based on neuromonitoring strategies, PbtO2-guided therapy (OR 0.33 [CI 95% 0.12–0.89]) compared to ICP-guided therapy had a protective effect on neurological outcome at 6 months. In this cohort of SAH patients, PbtO2-guided therapy might be associated with improved long-term neurological outcome, only when compared to ICP-guided therapy.
Background
Respiratory complications are frequently reported after aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), even if their association with outcome remains controversial. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the most severe pulmonary complications after aSAH, with a reported incidence ranging from 11 to 50%. This study aims to assess in a large cohort of aSAH patients, during the first week after an intensive care unit (ICU) admission, the incidence of ARDS defined according to the Berlin criteria and its effect on outcome.
Methods
This is a multicentric, retrospective cohort study in 3 European intensive care units. We collected data between January 2009 and December 2017. We included adult patients (≥ 18 years) with a diagnosis of aSAH admitted to the ICU.
Results
A total of 855 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. ARDS was assessable in 851 patients. The cumulative incidence of ARDS was 2.2% on the first day since ICU admission, 3.2% on day three, and 3.6% on day seven. At the univariate analysis, ARDS was associated with a poor outcome (p = 0.005) at ICU discharge, and at the multivariable analysis, patients with ARDS showed a worse neurological outcome (Odds ratio = 3.00, 95% confidence interval 1.16–7.72; p = 0.023).
Conclusions
ARDS has a low incidence in the first 7 days of ICU stay after aSAH, but it is associated with worse outcome.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.