Blood-based brain injury biomarkers tied to unfavorable outcomes at 1 year after pediatric cardiac arrest: JAMA

Blood-based brain injury biomarkers like neurofilament light (NfL), were linked to a poorer outcome 1 year after pediatric cardiac arrest as per a study that was published in the journal JAMA Network Open. 

There are limited validated tools available for clinicians to estimate long-term outcomes early after pediatric cardiac arrest. Tools like Blood-based brain-specific biomarkers may be helpful to assist in the outcome assessment. Hence researchers conducted a multicenter prospective cohort study to assess the association of blood-based brain injury biomarker concentrations with outcomes 1 year after pediatric cardiac arrest. The study was carried out in pediatric intensive care units at 14 academic referral centers in the US between May 16, 2017, and August 19, 2020. 

120 children aged 48 hours to 17 years who were resuscitated and admitted to an intensive care unit after cardiac arrest and those who had pre–cardiac arrest Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category scores of 1 to 3 points were taken in the study. The primary outcome was an unfavorable outcome like death or survival with a Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, third edition with a score of <70 points at 1 year after cardiac arrest. From days 1 to 3 biomarkers like Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal esterase L1 (UCH-L1), neurofilament light (NfL), and tau concentrations were measured in blood samples 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.