AWAreness during REsuscitation - II: A multi-center study of consciousness and awareness in cardiac arrest.
Resuscitation October 1, 2023 Sam Parnia, Tara Keshavarz Shirazi, Jignesh Patel et al. 64 citations
During cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), some patients show signs of consciousness and cognitive activity, including brain activity on EEG that resembles normal waking patterns despite severe oxygen deprivation. In a study of 567 in-hospital cardiac arrests, 11 of 28 survivors interviewed reported memories or perceptions suggesting consciousness during CPR. Four categories of experiences emerged: CPR-induced consciousness, post-resuscitation awareness, dream-like experiences, and transcendent recalled experience of death (RED). A separate group of 126 community survivors reinforced these categories and added delusions. Normal EEG activity (delta, theta, alpha) appeared for up to 35–60 minutes into CPR even with low cerebral oxygenation, suggesting that a network-level cognitive activity and lucidity may occur during cardiac arrest.