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Review Question - QID 101702

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QID 101702 (Type "101702" in App Search)
A 58-year-old man with history of diabetes and hypertension suffers a cardiac arrest at home. The family calls 911, yet no one performs CPR. Five minutes after the arrest, EMS arrives to begin resuscitation. At this point, which region of the CNS is most likely to suffer ischemic damage?

Thalamus

17%

45/265

Spinal cord

1%

3/265

Pons

6%

16/265

Medulla

9%

23/265

Hippocampus

65%

173/265

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After five minutes of hypoxia due to stroke or circulatory failure, irreversible damage to vulnerable regions of the brain begins. These include the pyramidal cells of the hippocampus and neocortex and the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum, as well as other neurons located in watershed areas.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy results because the bulk of the energy for function of cells in the CNS is derived from oxidative phosphorylation, thus oxygen is critical. Even brief drops in perfusion can result in damage to brain tissue via cessation of oxidative phosphorylation, failure of membrane pumps, glutamate discharge into the synapse and calcium entry into the cell, causing irreversible cell damage. Moreover, without circulation there is no removal of toxic metabolites. In addition to its relation to stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy also occurs in the newborn period in about 3.7/1000 births due to numerous intrapartum causes.

Bernheisel et al. discuss the subacute management of ischemic stroke, which may cause neuronal damage similar to that described due to cardiac arrest, but in more localized territories. These patients must be hospitalized and undergo cardiac and neuroimaging in order to determine the cause of the stroke. Diagnostic studies include magnetic resonance angiography, carotid artery ultrasound, and echocardiography are employed to determine the cause of the ischemic stroke.

Vadeboncoeur et al. studied a series of 593 consecutive out of hospital cardiac arrests distributed between two EMS agencies and found that survivors had experienced significantly greater depth of chest compressions (53.6mm) than non-survivors (48.8mm). This is consistent with 2010 AHA guidelines which recommend compression of at least 51mm. Increases in chest compression depth also showed a relationship with improved functional outcomes.

Illustration A is a gross specimen showing damage to the left hippocampus (smaller in size than right) resulting from ischemia.
Illustration B is a pathway depicting the sequence of events leading to neuronal injury caused by ischemia.

Incorrect Answers:
Answers 1-4: These regions are less susceptible to ischemia than the hippocampus, with the spinal cord generally being the last to be affected.

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