Normal EEG activity consistent with consciousness emerged as long as 35 to 60 minutes into CPR despite marked cerebral ischemia<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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MONDAY, Sept. 18, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Some patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest revived by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) report clear memories, according to a study recently published in Resuscitation<\/em>.<\/p>\n Sam Parnia, M.D., Ph.D., from the New York University School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues conducted a prospective 25-site study to examine consciousness and its underlying electrocortical biomarkers during CPR. Fifty-three (9.3 percent) of 567 patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest survived; 28 (52.8 percent) completed interviews to be examined for recall of awareness and cognitive experiences.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 11 patients (39.3 percent) reported cardiac arrest memories\/perceptions suggestive of consciousness. Four categories of experiences were detailed: emergence from coma during CPR (CPR-induced consciousness; two patients [7.1 percent]) or during the postresuscitation period (two patients [7.1 percent]); dream-like experiences (three patients [10.7 percent]); and transcendent recalled experience of death (six patients [21.4 percent]). These categories were reinforced based on experiences of 126 community cardiac arrest survivors, and an additional one was added: delusions (misattribution of medical events). Normal electroencephalogram activity, consistent with consciousness, emerged as long as 35 to 60 minutes into CPR, despite marked cerebral ischemia.<\/p>\n “Our work found that the brain can show signs of electrical recovery long into ongoing CPR,” Parnia said in a statement. “This is the first large study to show that these recollections and brain wave changes may be signs of universal, shared elements of so-called near-death experiences.”<\/p>\n