Editors' note: Clinical Reasoning: Prognostication after cardiac arrest: What do we really know?

Abstract

In reference to “Clinical Reasoning: Prognostication after cardiac arrest: What do we really know?,” Drs. Freund and Kaplan comment on the difficulty of distinguishing Lance-Adams syndrome (“chronic posthypoxic myoclonus”) from myoclonic status epilepticus, based on postarrest onset or outcomes, as there is substantial variability in both. They suggest further study into clinical, neuroimaging, and neurophysiologic correlates of posthypoxic myoclonus. Authors Beekman et al. agree and add the need for a systematic characterization of postarrest myoclonus to better understand its utility as a prognostic tool. In reference to “Clinical Reasoning: Prognostication after cardiac arrest: What do we really know?,” Drs. Freund and Kaplan comment on the difficulty of distinguishing Lance-Adams syndrome (“chronic posthypoxic myoclonus”) from myoclonic status epilepticus, based on postarrest onset or outcomes, as there is substantial variability in both. They suggest further study into clinical, neuroimaging, and neurophysiologic correlates of posthypoxic myoclonus.