Fig. 2
High rSO2 and epileptic aEEG pattern in PCAS. A male in his 50s collapsed suddenly with chest pain. His initial cardiac rhythm indicated ventricular fibrillation. The time from cardiac arrest to ROSC was 24 min. The diagnosis for this patient was acute myocardial infarction. The rSO2 monitoring and concurrent aEEG monitoring was commenced an hour after his collapse. His initial rSO2 reading was 80 % (a-a) and the aEEG pattern (b) was flat regardless of rSO2 value. Therapeutic hypothermia was commenced after the patient’s ICU admission and his rSO2 gradually decreased as his systemic arterial pressure fell. The patient’s rSO2 returned to its initial level once he received a dopamine infusion (a-b). The aEEG pattern changed to epileptic approximately 24 h after ROSC (c). The outcome for this patient was a persistent vegetative state. a rSO2 (%); B: aEEG, 1 h after ROSC; C: aEEG, 25 h after ROSC. Arrows: a: BP 168/100 mmHg, arterial gases: PaCO2 34.7 mmHg, pH 7.441; b: BP 85/40 mmHg, start of dopamine administration, arterial gases: PaCO2 34.2 mmHg, pH 7.429; c: BP 136/88 mmHg, arterial gases: PaCO2 38.2 mmHg, pH 7.399. BP: blood pressure; ROSC: return of spontaneous circulation; rSO2: regional cerebral oxygen saturation; aEEG: amplitude-integrated electroencephalography