Epinephrine Versus Placebo During Resuscitation After Neonatal Hypoxic Cardiac Arrest: The Effect on ROSC and Markers of CNS Outcome Investigated in a Piglet Model
Abstract Background: Epinephrine is an integral component of neonatal resuscitation guidelines, despite sparse evidence. The association between advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poor neurodevelopment is well known, and epinephrine may improve short-term survival but at the cost of poor neurologic outcome. Our objectives were to investigate the effect of epinephrine vs placebo in a piglet model of neonatal hypoxic cardiac arrest (CA) by: 1) return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), 2) time-to-ROSC, 3) markers of CNS outcome by magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging (MRS/MRI), and 4) composite endpoint of death or severe CNS outcome. Methods: Twenty-five newborn piglets under 12 hours of age underwent hypoxia. Hypoxia was induced by clamping the endotracheal tube until CA (mean arterial blood pressure <20 mmHg and heart rate <60 bpm). CPR was commenced five minutes after CA. The animals were randomized to either CPR + intravenous epinephrine or CPR + placebo (saline). MRS/MRI was performed six hours after resuscitation. Results: ROSC was more frequent in animals subjected to epinephrine than placebo; RR = 2.31 (95 % CI: 1.09 to 5.77). We found no difference between groups in time-to-ROSC. Among survivors, we found no difference between groups in brain lactate/N-acetyl-aspartate ratios (Lac/NAA), N-acetyl-aspartate/creatine ratios (NAA/Cr), diffusion-weighted-signal, or oxygenation-dependent-signal. We found a tendency towards reduced risk of the composite endpoint of death or severe CNS outcome in animals resuscitated with epinephrine compared to placebo, RR = 0.7 (95 % CI: 0.37 to 1.19).Conclusions: Resuscitation with epinephrine compared to placebo improved ROSC frequency after neonatal hypoxic CA. Surviving animals after resuscitation with epinephrine compared to placebo showed no difference in MRS/MRI markers of brain damage. These results support that epinephrine improves short-term survival without increasing brain injury measured by early imaging biomarkers.