Evaluating post-cardiac arrest blood pressure thresholds associated with neurologic outcome in children: Insights from the pediRES-Q database

Background: Current Pediatric Advanced Life Support Guidelines recommend maintaining blood pressure (BP) above the 5th percentile for age following return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after cardiac arrest (CA). Emerging evidence suggests that targeting higher thresholds, such as the 10th or 25th percentiles, may improve neurologic outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the association between post-ROSC BP thresholds and neurologic outcome, hypothesizing that maintaining mean arterial pressure (MAP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) above these thresholds would be associated with improved outcomes at hospital discharge. Methods: This retrospective, multi-center, observational study analyzed data from the Pediatric Resuscitation Quality Collaborative (pediRES-Q). Children (<18 years) who achieved ROSC following index in-hospital or out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and survived ≥ 6 h were included. Multivariable logistic regression was preformed to analyze the association between the pre-defined BP thresholds (5th, 10th, and 25th percentiles) and favorable neurologic outcome, controlling for illness category (surgical-cardiac), initial rhythm (shockable), arrest time (weekend or night), age, CPR duration, and clustering by site. Results: There were 787 patients with evaluable MAP data and 711 patients with evaluable SBP data. Fifty-four percent (N = 424) of subjects with MAP data and 53 % (N = 380) with SBP data survived to hospital discharge with favorable neurologic outcome. MAP above the 5th, 10th, and 25th percentile thresholds was associated with significantly greater odds of favorable outcome compared to patients with MAP below target (aOR, 1.81 [95 % CI, 1.32, 2.50]; 1.50 [95 % CI, 1.10, 2.05]; 1.40 [95 % CI, 1.01, 1.94], respectively). Subjects with lowest SBP above the 5th percentile also had greater odds of favorable outcome (aOR, 1.44 [95 % CI, 1.04, 2.01]). Associations between lowest SBP above the 10th percentile and 25th percentile did not reach statistical significance (aOR 1.33 [95 % CI, 0.96, 1.86]; 1.23 [95 % CI, 0.87, 1.75], respectively). Conclusion: After pediatric CA, maintaining MAP above the 5th, 10th, and 25th percentiles and SBP above the 5th percentile during the first 6 h following ROSC was significantly associated with improved neurologic outcomes.