In patients with coma who were resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), targeted mild hypercapnia did not lead to better neurologic outcomes at 6 months than targeted normocapnia.

A total of 1,700 patients from 63 ICUs in 17 countries were recruited, with 847 patients assigned to targeted mild hypercapnia and 853 to targeted normocapnia.

A favorable neurologic outcome at 6 months occurred in 332 of 764 patients (43.5%) in the mild hypercapnia group and in 350 of 784 (44.6%) in the normocapnia group.

Death within 6 months after randomization occurred in 393 of 816 patients (48.2%) in the mild hypercapnia group and in 382 of 832 (45.9%) in the normocapnia group.

The incidence of adverse events did not differ significantly between groups.

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