A RARE CASE OF A SOMATOSENSORY-EVOKED POTENTIALS RECORDING DURING CARDIOPULMONARY-RESUSCITATION

Background: Neuronal damage is a possible complication of cardiac surg ery. To reduce the potential risk of postoperative neurological defici t, the functional state of affected central nervous system pathways is monitored intraoperatively by recording evoked potentials (EPs). Apar t from animal research, there is little clinical evidence of EPs recor ding during cardiac arrest and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). M ethods: Both scalp (SCEPs) and spinal (SSEPs) short-latency somatosens ory EPs were recorded as the response to the electrical stimulation of the right median nerve during mitral valve replacement surgery. Evoke d potentials were recorded before, during, and after sudden ventricula r fibrillation followed by CPR.Results: Preoperative control recording s of both SCEPs and SSEPs were in the normal ranges. During the first 4 min of cardiac arrest and resuscitation, all SCEPs waves disappeared , while the spinal component of the SSEPs was still recognizable. Afte r CPR, all waves of both EPs recordings recovered completely. The pati ent woke from anesthesia without neurological deficits. Conclusions: A s expected, scalp-recorded EPs are more sensitive to the cardiac arres t than spinal EPs. Rapid and almost complete recovery of postoperative EPs, namely SCEPs, correlated well with normal neurological recovery.