Quick Cooling With Therapeutic Hypothermia Improves Neurologic Outcomes
Major Finding: Therapeutic hypothermia for cardiac arrest patients – beginning in the field and completed in a hospital – was associated with good neurologic outcomes in 98% of patients who survived to hospital discharge.
Data Source: A 4-year prospective study of 140 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Disclosures: The study was sponsored by the Minnesota Heart Institute Foundation. None of the authors declared any financial disclosures.
FROM CIRCULATION
They said the study argues not only for expanding such a program to more regions, but also for considering a wider variety of patients as candidates, including those with poor prognostic indicators such as advanced age, nonventricular fibrillation arrest, and cardiogenic shock.
"Our work suggests that therapeutic hypothermia should be extended to these patients because, on survival, they appear to benefit substantially from the neuroprotective effects," the authors noted.
The study was sponsored by the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. None of the authors declared any financial disclosures.
