PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - W. A. Tweed
AU  - A. Thomassen
AU  - M. Wernberg
TI  - Prognosis after cardiac arrest based on age and duration of coma
DP  - 1982 May 01
TA  - Canadian Medical Association Journal
PG  - 1058--1060
VI  - 126
IP  - 9
4099  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/126/9/1058.short
4100  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/126/9/1058.full
SO  - CMAJ1982 May 01; 126
AB  - In an attempt to determine the relation between duration of coma and neurologic recovery following cardiac resuscitation 163 survivors of cardiac arrest from Winnipeg, Manitoba and Aarhus, Denmark were studied. The age of the patients did not influence the outcome. Of the 153 patients who had awakened from the coma within 24 hours, only 11 suffered brain damage, compared with all of the 10 patients who wakened after 24 hours. The three who wakened after 72 hours had severe brain damage and required permanent care in an institution. It was concluded that recovery of communicative brain function is unlikely if coma persists longer than 72 hours after cardiac arrest and that full recovery cannot be expected after 24 hours of coma.