• Sachin Agarwal, Alex Presciutti, Talea Cornelius, Jeffrey Birk, David J Roh, Soojin Park, Jan Claassen, Elkind Mitchell S V MSV Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY. Depar, and Donald Edmondson.
• Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.
• Crit. Care Med. 2019 Jun 1; 47 (6): e502-e505.

ObjectivesTo compare 1-year all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events in cardiac arrest survivors with and without posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology at hospital discharge.DesignProspective, observational cohort.SettingICUs at a tertiary-care center.PatientsAdults with return of spontaneous circulation after in-hospital or out-of-hospital cardiac arrest between September 2015 and September 2017. A consecutive sample of survivors with sufficient mental status to self-report cardiac arrest and subsequent hospitalization-induced posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (cardiac arrest-induced posttraumatic stress symptomatology) at hospital discharge were included.InterventionsNone.Measurements And Main ResultsThe combined primary endpoint was all-cause mortality or major adverse cardiovascular event-hospitalization for nonfatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina, congestive heart failure, emergency coronary revascularization, or urgent implantable cardio-defibrillators/permanent pacemaker placements within 12 months of discharge. An in-person posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology was assessed at hospital discharge via the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Specific scale; a suggested diagnostic cutoff of 36 for specialized medical settings was adopted. Outcomes for patients meeting (vs not meeting) this cutoff were compared using Cox-hazard regression models. Of 114 included patients, 36 (31.6%) screened positive for cardiac arrest-induced posttraumatic stress symptomatology at discharge (median 21 d post cardiac arrest; interquartile range, 11-36). During the follow-up period (median = 12.4 mo; interquartile range, 10.2-13.5 mo), 10 (8.8%) died and 29 (25.4%) experienced a recurrent major adverse cardiovascular event: rehospitalizations due to myocardial infarction (n = 4; 13.8%), unstable angina (n = 8; 27.6%), congestive heart failure exacerbations (n = 4; 13.8%), emergency revascularizations (n = 5, 17.2%), and urgent implantable cardio-defibrillator/permanent pacemaker placements (n = 8; 27.6%). Cardiac arrest-induced posttraumatic stress symptomatology was associated with all-cause mortality/major adverse cardiovascular event in univariate (hazard ratio, 3.19; 95% CI, 1.7-6.0) and in models adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities, preexisting psychiatric condition, and nonshockable initial rhythm (hazard ratio, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.6-6.0).ConclusionsPosttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology is common after cardiac arrest, and cardiac arrest-induced posttraumatic stress symptomatology was associated with significantly higher risk of death and cardiovascular events. Further studies are needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms.

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