Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) predicts short- and long-term mortality and poor neurological outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients.

Objectives: Prior research found the gut microbiota-dependent and pro-atherogenic molecule trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) to be associated with cardiovascular events as well as all-cause mortality in different patient populations with cardiovascular disease. Our aim was to investigate the prognostic value of TMAO regarding clinical outcomes in patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Methods: We included consecutive OHCA patients upon intensive care unit admission into this prospective observational study between October 2012 and May 2016.