Prognostic implications of blood lactate concentrations after cardiac arrest: a retrospective study

Abstract Background Elevated lactate concentration has been associated with increased mortality after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (CA). We investigated the variables associated with high blood lactate concentrations and explored the relationship between blood lactate and neurological outcome in this setting. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of an institutional database that included all adult (> 18 years) patients admitted to a multidisciplinary Department of Intensive Care between January 2009 and January 2013 after resuscitation from CA. Blood lactate concentrations were collected at hospital admission and 6, 12, 24 and 48 h thereafter. Neurological outcome was evaluated 3 months post-CA using the Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) score: a CPC of 3–5 was used to define a poor outcome. Results Of the 236 patients included, 162 (69%) had a poor outcome. On admission, median lactate concentrations (5.3[2.9–9.0] vs. 2.5[1.5–5.5], p