Mild hypothermia for post cardiac arrest syndrome

doi:10.1136/bmj.39315.519201.BE

BMJ 2007;335:459-460 (8 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39315.519201.BE

Editorials

Mild hypothermia for post cardiac arrest syndrome

Is recommended by evidence based guidelines yet uptake remainspoor

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Most people who have a cardiac arrest die. Many who are resuscitatedsubsequently die over the next few hours or days, and thosewho survive are at risk of cognitive dysfunction. This gloomyreality has prompted research into interventions to improvethe prognosis of cardiac arrest; one of these interventionsis the induction of mild hypothermia after spontaneous circulationhas been restored.

Apart from patients resuscitated from a very brief cardiac arrest,most survivors will be comatose initially, and those withoutextensive comorbidity will be admitted to an intensive careunit. Unconscious, mechanically ventilated survivors of cardiacarrest account for one in 17 of all admissions to intensivecare in the United Kingdom.¹ A third of these patients surviveto hospital discharge. In one centre, two thirds of deaths inintensive care in initial survivors of cardiac arrest that occurredout of hospital, and a quarter of deaths after cardiac . . . [Full text of this article]

Jasmeet Soar, consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine¹, Jerry P Nolan, consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine²

¹ Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol BS10 5NB, ² Royal United Hospital, Bath BA1 3NG

Jasmeet.soar@nbt.nhs.uk

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This article has been cited by other articles:

Bouch, D. C., Thompson, J. P., Damian, M. S. (2008). Post-cardiac arrest management: more than global cooling?. Br J Anaesth 100: 591-594 [Full text]

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bmj.com, 13 Sep 2007 [Full text]
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bmj.com, 15 Oct 2007 [Full text]
Uptake of mild hypothermia for post cardiac arrest syndrome: Jasmeet Soar, et al.
bmj.com, 20 Oct 2007 [Full text]
A subtle dig at the English, Welsh and Irish?: James Austin
bmj.com, 28 Oct 2007 [Full text]