Hyperoxia in post-cardiac arrest: friend or foe?

Cardiac arrest (CA) is a devastating condition resulting in a high mortality rate. Even when a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) has been obtained, the vast majority of patients who remain comatose after a CA will subsequently die in the following days or weeks, mostly from brain injury (1,2). Of importance, it has been shown that this brain injury continues even after ROSC, due to the “reperfusion injury” process.