In some cases of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) who underwent extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR), negative pupillary light reflex (PLR) and mydriasis upon hospital arrival serve as common early indicator of poor prognosis. However, in certain patients with poor prognoses inferred by pupil findings upon hospital arrival, pupillary findings improve before and after the establishment of ECPR. The association between these changes in pupillary findings and prognosis remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify the association of pupillary examinations before and after the establishment of ECPR in patients with OHCA showing poor pupillary findings upon hospital arrival with their outcomes. To this end, we analysed retrospective multicentre registry data involving 36 institutions in Japan, including all adult patients with OHCA who underwent ECPR between January 2013 and December 2018. We selected patients with poor prognosis inferred by pupillary examinations, negative pupillary light reflex (PLR) and pupil mydriasis, upon hospital arrival. The primary outcome was favourable neurological outcome, defined as Cerebral Performance Category 1 or 2 at hospital discharge. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between favourable neurological outcome and pupillary examination after establishing ECPR.

Out of the 2,157 patients enrolled in the SAVE-J II study, 723 were analysed. Among the patients analysed, 74 (10.2%) demonstrated favourable neurological outcome at hospital discharge. Multivariable analysis revealed that a positive PLR at ICU admission (odds ration [OR] = 11.3, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 5.17–24.7) was significantly associated with favourable neurological outcome. However, normal pupil diameter at ICU admission (OR = 1.10, 95%CI = 0.52–2.32) was not significantly associated with favourable neurological outcome.

Among the patients with OHCA who underwent ECPR and showed poor pupillary examination findings upon hospital arrival, 10.2% had favourable neurological outcome at hospital discharge. A positive PLR after the establishment of ECPR was significantly associated with favourable neurological outcome.