The role of lactate measurement in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors remains controversial. We assessed the association between early lactate-related variables, OHCA characteristics, and long-term neurological outcome.

In OHCA patients who received targeted temperature management, lactate levels were measured at 0, 12, and 24 h after the return of spontaneous circulation. We calculated lactate clearance and time-weighted cumulative lactate (TWCL), which represent the area under the time-lactate curve. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of lactate-related variables for predicting 6-month poor outcome (Cerebral Performance Category 3–5) were evaluated. Interactions between lactate variables and characteristics of OHCA were evaluated by a multivariable logistic model with interaction terms and subgroup analysis.

A total of 347 OHCA patients were included. After adjustment, higher lactate levels at the three time points were associated with a poor outcome (AOR 1.10 [95% CI, 1.03–1.18], AOR 1.15 [95% CI, 1.02–1.29], and AOR 1.36 [95% CI, 1.15–1.60], respectively), while TWCL was the only lactate kinetics variable associated with a poor outcome (AOR 1.29 [95% CI, 1.12–1.49]). We identified several interactions between lactate-related variables and OHCA characteristics. In particular, the AUC of TWCL was excellent in cases of noncardiac etiology (AUC 0.92 [95% CI, 0.86–0.96] but only moderate in cardiac etiology (AUC 0.69 [95% CI, 0.62–0.75]).

Early lactate levels, especially at 24 h, and TWCL were independent predictors of neurologic outcome in these patients, whereas lactate clearance was not. The prognostic ability of lactate-related variables varied depending on the OHCA characteristics.