The Electrographic Effects of Ketamine on Patients With… : Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology
and burden of epileptiform discharges) and spectral profiles (based on the presence of frequency components). For patients who received ketamine, EEG data were compared before, during, and after ketamine infusion; for the no-ketamine group, EEG data were compared at three separated time points during recording. Ketamine usage was determined by clinical providers. Electrographic improvement in epileptiform activity was scored, and the odds ratio was calculated using the Fisher exact test. Functional outcome measures at time of discharge were also examined. Results: Of a total of 38 patients with postcardiac arrest refractory status epilepticus, 13 received ketamine and 25 did not. All patients were on ≥2 antiseizure medications including at least one sedative infusion (midazolam). For the ketamine group, eight patients had electrographic improvement, compared with only two patients in the no-ketamine group, with an odds ratio of 7.19 (95% confidence interval 1.16–44.65, P value of 0.034