A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study of altered functional brain activity in cardiac arrest survivors with good neurological outcome

Qian Wu; Gan-Nan Wang; Hao Hu; Xu-Feng Chen; Xiao-Quan Xu; Jin-Song Zhang; Fei-Yun Wu

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1136197

A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study of altered functional brain activity in cardiac arrest survivors with good neurological outcome

Front Neurol. 2023 Apr 20:14:1136197. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1136197. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Qian Wu¹, Gan-Nan Wang², Hao Hu¹, Xu-Feng Chen², Xiao-Quan Xu¹, Jin-Song Zhang², Fei-Yun Wu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
² Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the spontaneous brain activity alterations in survivors of cardiac arrest (CA) with good neurological outcome using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) with amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) methods.

Materials and methods: Thirteen CA survivors with favorable neurological outcomes and 13 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited and underwent rs-fMRI scans. The ALFF and ReHo methods were applied to assess the regional intensity and synchronization of spontaneous brain activity. Correlation analyses were performed to explore the relationships between the mean ALFF and ReHo values in significant clusters and clinical parameters.

Results: The survivors of CA showed significantly decreased ALFF values in the left postcentral gyrus and precentral gyrus and increased ALFF values in the left hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus than HCs. Significantly decreased ReHo values were observed in the left inferior occipital gyrus and middle occipital gyrus in the patients. Mean ALFF values in the left hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus were positively correlated with the time to return of spontaneous circulation (r = 0.794, p = 0.006) in the patient group.

Conclusion: Functional activity alterations in the brain areas corresponding to known cognitive and physical impairments were observed in CA survivors with preserved neurological function. Our results could advance the understanding of the neurological mechanisms underlying the residual deficits in those patients.

Keywords: amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation; cardiac arrest; cognitive impairment; regional homogeneity; resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.