The American Heart Association has been compiling an annual list of the top 10 major advances in heart disease and stroke science since 1996. Among the the association’s top scientific advances for 2013, one specifically relates to sudden cardiac arrest: Simplifying the cooling of cardiac arrest patients and extending life support.
According to the AHA, resuscitation studies provided guidance on cooling cardiac arrest patients — called therapeutic hypothermia — and on how long to provide life support after they’ve been rewarmed. Cooling patients who have survived sudden cardiac arrest can improve their survival and brain function, and two studies suggest simplifications to the process. The first suggested that cooling before patients reach the hospital did not help their survival or brain function. The second study found no differences in survival or brain function for patients cooled to 33 degrees Celsius vs. 36 degrees Celsius. Incorporating these ideas could save emergency medical services from investing in special equipment and training, and hospitals can more easily lower their patients’ temperatures.
After cooling and rewarming, another study recommends that healthcare providers wait 48-72 hours before withdrawing life support, because patients can still survive with good brain function after 72 hours. Before therapeutic hypothermia is used, most patients are put into a medically induced coma.
More on other scientific advances...
SOURCE: American Heart Association