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"Alpha-like" rhythms in electroencephalograms in coma after cardiac arrest

Neurology Service, Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, Illinois; the EEG Laboratory, MacNeal Memorial Hospital, Berwyn, Illinois; and the Department of Neurology, University of Health Sciences The Chicago Medical School, Chicago.

Electroencephalograms (EEGs) of 12 comatose patients showed "alpha-like" rhythms after cardiac arrest. Four patients revealed a stage II sleep pattern and two patients showed signs of reactivity in their EEGs. One patient recovered with minimal impairment of memory, one patient lived for 3 months, and 10 died 3 to 30 days after cardiac arrest. Examination of the brain demonstrated the usual anoxic lesions in three patients and "respirator brain" in one. In three patients with ventral pontine syndrome, a somewhat similar EEG pattern, but with distinct differences in topography and reactivity, was observed. In order to recognize alpha-like rhythms in comatose patients after cardiac arrest, EEGs should be recorded daily for several days.

Received for publication November 25, 1974.

Dr. Chokroverty's address is Veterans Administration Hospital, P.O. Box 127, Hines, IL 60141.

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