Mild decrease in heart rate during early phase of targeted temperature management following tachycardia on admission is associated with unfavorable neurological outcomes after severe traumatic brain injury: a post hoc analysis of a multicenter randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: The association between isolated admission heart rate (HR) and prognosis has been discussed, but not that between gross HR change and neurological outcome in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). In the acute phase of severe TBI, HR is influenced by several factors (e.g., pain, sympathetic activation, hypovolemia, fever, body temperature). Therefore, admission HR and gross HR change should be examined in patients with TBI treated with a well-designed protocol, such as was done in the Brain Hypothermia (B-HYPO) Study. METHODS: This was a post hoc analysis of the B-HYPO Study, which was conducted as a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial in patients with severe TBI receiving mild therapeutic hypothermia (MTH; 32.0 °C–34.0 °C) or fever control (35.5 °C–37.0 °C) in Japan. Patients with MTH were examined, and HR change (%HR) in the early MTH phase was calculated as follows: [admission HR – HR at day 1]/admission HR × 100. Patients were divided into six groups, using admission HR (< 80, 80–99, ≤ 100) and median of %HR; i.e., group (Admission HR < 80 and %HR ≥ 18.6); group (Admission HR < 80 and %HR < 18.6); group (Admission HR 80–99 and %HR ≥ 18.6); group (Admission HR 80–99 and %HR < 18.6); group (Admission HR ≥100 and %HR ≥ 18.6); and group (Admission HR ≥100 and %HR < 18.6). The primary outcome was an adjusted predicted probability of unfavorable neurological outcome at 6 months after TBI according to Glasgow Outcome Scale score, which is a measure of functional recovery and defined as severe disability, persistent vegetative state, and death. RESULTS: Overall, 79 patients with MTH (52.7% of the original trial) were examined; among these, unfavorable neurological outcomes were observed in 53.2%. Among all the groups, group (Admission HR ≥100 and %HR < 18.6) exhibited the highest proportion of unfavorable outcomes, and 82.3% of patients had an adjusted predicted probability of unfavorable outcomes, whereas those in group (Admission HR < 80 and %HR ≥ 18.6) developed only 22.8% (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Mild HR decrease during the early phase of targeted temperature management following tachycardia at admission can be associated with unfavorable neurological outcomes after severe TBI. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13054-018-2276-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.