IMPORTANCE Families and clinicians have limited validated tools available to assist in estimating long-term outcomes early after pediatric cardiac arrest. Blood-based brain-specific biomarkers may be helpful tools to aid in outcome assessment.
OBJECTIVETo analyze the association of blood-based brain injury biomarker concentrations with outcomes 1 year after pediatric cardiac arrest.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThe Personalizing Outcomes After Child Cardiac Arrest multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted in pediatric intensive care units at 14 academic referral centers in the US between May 16, 2017, and August 19, 2020, with the primary investigators blinded to 1-year outcomes. The study included 120 children aged 48 hours to 17 years who were resuscitated after cardiac arrest, had pre-cardiac arrest Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category scores of 1 to 3 points, and were admitted to an intensive care unit after cardiac arrest.
EXPOSURE Cardiac arrest.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe primary outcome was an unfavorable outcome (death or survival with a Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, third edition, score of <70 points) at 1 year after cardiac arrest. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal esterase L1 (UCH-L1), neurofilament light (NfL), and tau concentrations were measured in blood samples from days 1 to 3 after cardiac arrest. Multivariate logistic regression and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) analyses were performed to examine the association of each biomarker with outcomes on days 1 to 3. RESULTS Among 120 children with primary outcome data available, the median (IQR) age was 1.0 (0-8.5) year; 71 children (59.2%) were male. A total of 5 children (4.2%) were Asian, 19 (15.8%) were Black, 81 (67.5%) were White, and 15 (12.5%) were of unknown race; among 110 children with data on ethnicity, 11 (10.0%) were Hispanic, and 99 (90.0%) were non-Hispanic. Overall, 70 children (58.3%) had a favorable outcome, and 50 children (41.7%) had an unfavorable outcome, including 43 deaths. On days 1 to 3 after cardiac arrest, concentrations of all 4 measured biomarkers were higher in children with an unfavorable vs a favorable outcome at 1 year. After covariate adjustment, NfL