Acute cardiac care & resuscitationCohort study
Discordant neuron-specific enolase and neurologic outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a decade-long analysis
- retrospective cohort study
Authors' conclusion
In patients with normal NSE levels, poor outcomes appear to be driven primarily by age and systemic physiological derangements. In the intermediate NSE group, outcomes reflect the combined effects of the initial hemodynamic insult, systemic organ dysfunction, and early cerebral edema, highlighting the importance of a multimodal prognostic approach.
Study context
- Population
- Comatose adult OHCA survivors who underwent targeted temperature management between 2014 and 2024normal neuron-specific enolase (NSE) 193 · intermediate NSE 182 · high NSE 271
- Participants
- 646 patients
- Exposure
- Patients categorized by peak NSE levels within 72 h of arrest into normal, intermediate and high groups
- normaln = 193
- intermediaten = 182
- highn = 271
- Outcome
- Poor neurological outcome (Cerebral Performance Category score of 3-5)
- Follow-up
- 6 months
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Specificity of peak NSE ≥60 μg/L for poor neurological outcomes
- Specificity
- 98.5%
Original publication
Discordant neuron-specific enolase and neurologic outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a decade-long analysis. Resuscitation. Published 13 July 2026. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2026.111205
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it