Arrhythmias and heart rate variability during and after therapeutic hypothermia for cardiac arrest.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of therapeutic hypothermia (HT) of 33 degrees C after cardiac arrest (CA) on cardiac arrhythmias, heart rate variability (HRV), and their prognostic value.

Design: Prospective, comparative substudy of a randomized controlled trial of mild HT after out-of-hospital CA, the European Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest study.

Setting: Intensive care unit of a tertiary referral hospital (Helsinki University Hospital).

Somatosensory and brainstem auditory evoked potentials in cardiac arrest patients treated with hypothermia.

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of short-latency median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials and brainstem auditory evoked potentials in outcome prediction for comatose cardiac arrest patients treated with hypothermia.

Design: Prospective, randomized, controlled trial of mild hypothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; a substudy of the European Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest study.

Setting: Intensive care unit of a tertiary referral hospital (Helsinki University Central Hospital).