Assessment of early lymphopenia after cardiac arrest

Methods Retrospective analysis of an institutional database including all adult comatose patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after CA from January 2007 to December 2014. Inclusion criteria were as follows: age ≥18, non-traumatic arrest and survival ≥ 24 hours after admission. Demographics, CA-related findings and outcome information were included in the database. We collected data on daily routine blood analyses and, in particular, total white blood cells (WBC) count, neutrophils and lymphocytes. Lymphopenia was defined as a lymphocyte count < 1000/ mm. We recorded ICU mortality and long-term neurological outcome; a CPC score of 3-5 at 3-months was used to define poor neurological outcome (PNO).