English summary: ENDOVASCULAR COOLING OF RESUSCITATED PATIENTS

Background

The positive effect of therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest has been demonstrated in two controlled randomized trials. Therapeutic hypothermia is the only post-resuscitation intervention shown to improve outcome, but the study populations include only a minority of all cardiac arrest survivors. Therapeutic hypothermia has been practiced with different laborious external devices. Now also endovascular cooling is technically possible. This work was undertaken to assess the impact of therapeutic hypothermia without applying strict trial criteria. Also, the feasibility of endovascular cooling was compared to previous trials in terms of speed and neurological results.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective analysis of the patient data of cardiac arrest survivors treated with therapeutic hypothermia in Jorvi Hospital during the years 2003-2004. The neurological outcome was assessed at the point of hospital discharge.

Results

The neurological outcome in our patient series was as good as seen in controlled randomized trials. Only 7 percent of our patients became permanently dependent on others.

Conclusions

Therapeutic hypothermia is a feasible and effective treatment in patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest as practiced clinically in an intensive care unit at central hospital level.