Spinal cord ischemia following pediatric cardiac arrest: An unexplored complication of hypoxic ischemic injury

Key Points

• Explore the incidence and implications of spinal cord ischemia following pediatric cardiac arrest.
• Identified spinal cord ischemia occurrences in pediatric cardiac arrest patients
• Patients underwent post-arrest spinal MRI for clinical assessment
• Analysis of implications for neuroprognostication and rehabilitation
• Spinal cord ischemia was observed in 11% of pediatric patients with cardiac arrest
• Potential implications for determining brain death by neurologic criteria
• Need for larger studies to understand incidence and risk factors