Predictive performance of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin for neurologic outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients treated with targeted temperature management: A prospective observational study

Abstract

Few studies have demonstrated the prognostic potential of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in post-cardiac arrest patients. This study evaluated the usefulness of plasma NGAL in predicting neurologic outcome and mortality in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients treated with targeted temperature management (TTM). A prospective observational study was conducted between October 2013 and April 2016 at a single tertiary hospital. We enrolled 75 patients treated with TTM and collected their demographic data, cardiopulmonary resuscitation-related information, data on plasma NGAL concentration, and prognostic test results. Plasma NGAL was measured at 4hours after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). The primary endpoint was the neurologic outcome at discharge and the secondary outcome was 28-day mortality. Neurologic outcomes were analyzed using a stepwise multivariate logistic regression while 28-day mortality was analyzed using a stepwise Cox regression. The predictive performance of plasma NGAL for neurologic outcome was measured by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and the predictability of 28-day mortality was measured using Harrell C-index. We also compared the predictive performance of plasma NGAL to that of other traditional prognostic modalities for outcome variables. Thirty patients (40%) had good neurologic outcomes and 53 (70.7%) survived for more than 28 days. Plasma NGAL in patients with good neurologic outcomes was 122.7±146.7ng/ml, which was significantly lower than that in the poor neurologic outcome group (307.5±269.6ng/ml; P 124.3ng/ml group (odds ratio, 3.321; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.265-8.721]). Plasma NGAL in the survived group was significantly lower than that in the non-survived group (172.7±191.6 vs 379.9±297.8ng/ml; P=.005). Plasma NGAL was significantly correlated with 28-day mortality (hazard ratio 1.003, 95% CI 1.001-1.004; P