Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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There has been a dramatic change in hospital care of cardiac arrest survivors in recent years, including the use of target temperature management (hypothermia). Clinical signs of recovery or deterioration, which previously could be observed, are now concealed by sedation, analgesia, and muscle paralysis. Seizures are common after cardiac arrest, but few centers can offer high-quality electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring around the clock. ⋯ This is a convenient method to monitor cerebral function in comatose patients after cardiac arrest but has yet to be validated against the gold standard, a multichannel cEEG. We recently proposed a simplified system for interpreting EEG rhythms after cardiac arrest, defining four major EEG patterns. In this topical review, we will discuss cEEG to monitor brain function after cardiac arrest in general and how a simplified cEEG, with a reduced number of electrodes and trend analysis, may facilitate and improve care.