Ethical issues in neuroprognostication after severe pediatric brain injury

A 4 month old girl with no significant past medical history had a cardiac arrest at home. Her parents found her unresponsive, face down in her playpen, and not breathing. She was last seen 20minutes prior. Her father performed CPR for 5minutes and EMS continued CPR for an additional 2-3minutes. Spontaneous circulation returned after 1 dose of epinephrine. She was intubated and taken to the emergency room where she was noted to have seizure-like movements in her right arm and eye twitching. She received 2 doses of lorazepam and was started on dopamine prior to transfer to the pediatric intensive care unit, where she was placed on a therapeutic hypothermia protocol.
Source: Seminars in Pediatric Neurology - Category: Neurology Authors: Source Type: research