Vitamin D Deficiency Predicts Cognitive Outcomes After Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Vitamin D deficiency in patients who have been resuscitated after cardiac arrest increases risk of cognitive problems or death 7-fold, according to a recent study.

“In patients resuscitated after sudden cardiac arrest, recovery of neurological function is very important, as well as survival. Vitamin D deficiency has been reported to be related to the risk of having various cardiovascular diseases, including sudden cardiac arrest. We investigated the association of vitamin D deficiency with neurologic outcome after sudden cardiac arrest, a topic on which there is no information so far,” said Jin Wi, MD, the study’s co-author.
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For the study, researchers evaluated clinical data from all unconscious patients resuscitated from sudden cardiac arrest at Severance Cardiovascular Hospital in Seoul, Korea. Around 6 months after discharge, neurological outcomes for patients were examined using the Cerebral Performance Category scores: good neurologic outcome (1 or 2) compared to poor neurological outcome defined as 3 to 5 (CPC score).

Note: Researchers defined vitamin D deficiency as 25-hydroxyvitamin D less than 10ng/mL.

Out of the 53 participants included in the study, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed on 77% of patients (41), the initial monitored heart rhythm was shockable in 68% of patients (36), non-shockable in 32% of patients (17), and the mean vitamin d level was 10.3 ng/mL.

While 31 patients were vitamin D deficient (59%), those exhibiting poor neurologic outcomes had significantly decreased vitamin D levels (7.9 ng/mL) compared to individuals with good outcomes (12.4 ng.mL).

The study showed that 65% of participants with vitamin D deficiency had poor neurological outcomes after being discharged for 6 months compared to 23% of individuals with stable levels of vitamin D. At 6 months, 29% of vitamin D deficient patients died compared to no deaths among patients with healthy levels of vitamin D.

The investigators noted that vitamin D deficiency independently predicted poor neurologic outcome (with 7.13 odds ratio) after conducting a multivariate logistic analysis.

The complete study was presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association in Geneva, Switzerland.

-Michelle Canales

Reference:

European Society of Cardiology. Vitamin D deficiency increases poor brain function after cardiac arrest by seven-fold. October 18, 2014. www.escardio.org/about/press/press-releases/pr-14/Pages/vitamin-D-deficiency-impacts-brain-function.aspx. Accessed October 20, 2014.