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Updated: Nov 5, 2025
Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in a Mouse
Published on: October 24, 2018
Simplified frontal EEG in adults under veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
Cyril Touchard1, Jérôme Cartailler1,2, Geoffroy Vellieux3,4
1Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, APHP, Lariboisière-Saint Louis Hospitals, 75010, Paris, France.
Background:
EEG-based prognostication studies in intensive care units often rely on a standard 21-electrode montage (stdEEG) requiring substantial human, technical, and financial resources. We here evaluate whether a simplified 4-frontal electrode montage (4-frontEEG) can detect EEG patterns associated with poor outcomes in adult patients under veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO).
Methods:
We conducted a reanalysis of EEG data from a prospective cohort on 118 adult patients under VA-ECMO, in whom EEG was performed on admission to intensive care. EEG patterns of interest included background rhythm, discontinuity, reactivity, and the Synek's score. They were all reassessed by an intensivist on a 4-frontEEG montage, whose analysis was then compared to an expert's interpretation made on stdEEG recordings. The main outcome measure was the degree of correlation between 4-frontEEG and stdEEG montages to identify EEG patterns of interest. The performance of the Synek scores calculated on 4-frontEEG and stdEEG montage to predict outcomes (i.e., 28-day mortality and 90-day Rankin score [Formula: see text]) was investigated in a secondary exploratory analysis.
Results:
The detection of EEG patterns using 4-frontEEG was statistically similar to that of stdEEG for background rhythm (Spearman rank test, ρ = 0.66, p < 0.001), discontinuity (Cohen's kappa, [Formula: see text] = 0.955), reactivity ([Formula: see text] = 0.739) and the Synek's score (ρ = 0.794, p < 0.001). Using the Synek classification, we found similar performances between 4-frontEEG and stdEEG montages in predicting 28-day mortality (AUC 4-frontEEG 0.71, AUC stdEEG 0.68) and for 90-day poor neurologic outcome (AUC 4-frontEEG 0.71, AUC stdEEG 0.66). An exploratory analysis confirmed that the Synek scores determined by 4 or 21 electrodes were independently associated with 28-day mortality and poor 90-day functional outcome.
Conclusion:
In adult patients under VA-ECMO, a simplified 4-frontal electrode EEG montage interpreted by an intensivist, detected common EEG patterns associated with poor outcomes, with a performance similar to that of a standard EEG montage interpreted by expert neurophysiologists. This simplified montage could be implemented as part of a multimodal evaluation for bedside prognostication.
