Prognostic value of cell-free plasma DNA in patients with cardiac arrest outside the hospital: an observational cohort study

Many approaches have been examined to try to predict patient outcome after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It has been shown that plasma DNA could predict mortality in critically ill patients but no data are available regarding its clinical value in patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. In this study we investigated whether plasma DNA on arrival at the emergency room may be useful in predicting the outcome of these patients.

We performed a prospective study of out-of-hospital patients with cardiac arrest who achieved return of spontaneous circulation after successful resuscitation. Cardiovascular co-morbidities and resuscitation history were recorded according to the Utstein Style. The outcome measures were 24 h and overall in-hospital mortality. Cell-free plasma DNA was measured by real-time quantitative PCR assay for the β-globin gene in blood samples drawn within two hours after the arrest. Descriptive statistics, multiple logistic regression analysis, and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated.

Eighty-five consecutive patients were analyzed with a median time to return of spontaneous circulation of 27 minutes (interquartile range (IQR) 18 to 35). Thirty patients died within 24 h and 58 died during the hospital course. Plasma DNA concentrations at admission were higher in non-survivors at 24 h than in survivors (median 5,520 genome equivalents (GE)/ml, vs 2810 GE/ml, P < 0.01), and were also higher in patients who died in the hospital than in survivors to discharge (median 4,150 GE/ml vs 2,460 GE/ml, P < 0.01). Lactate clearance at six hours was significantly higher in 24 h survivors (P < 0.05). The area under the ROC curves for plasma DNA to predict 24-hour mortality and in-hospital mortality were 0.796 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.701 to 0.890) and 0.652 (95% CI 0.533 to 0.770). The best cut-off value of plasma DNA for 24-h mortality was 4,340 GE/ml (sensitivity 76%, specificity 83%), and for in-hospital mortality was 3,485 GE/ml (sensitivity 63%, specificity 69%). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of 24-h and of in-hospital mortality increased 1.75-fold and 1.36-fold respectively, for every 500 GE/ml increase in plasma DNA.

Plasma DNA levels may be a useful biomarker in predicting outcome after out-of hospital cardiac arrest.