Treatment Shows Excellent Results For Providence Tarzana Patients Following Cardiac Arrest

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 29 Jul 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Less than two weeks after instituting new therapeutic hypothermia treatment for heart attack patients, Providence Tarzana Medical Center has applied the body-cooling treatment in three cases - and each patient showed remarkable neurologic recovery.

Therapeutic hypothermia treatment, where cardiac arrest patients are cooled to 92 degrees, is being studied nationwide to help prevent brain damage caused by a loss of blood supply. Its initial use this month in the Providence Tarzana Emergency Department and intensive care units has been 100 percent successful.

"With the institution of the protocol, in the first week-and-a-half, we've had three patients who have had complete recovery of neurologic function after prolonged cardiac arrest," said G. Scott Brewster, M.D., medical director of the Emergency Department at Providence Tarzana.

The hypothermia therapy has been developed and studied in recent years and now, having reviewed the evidence and the successful implementation of the program at Providence Tarzana, Providence Health & Services is creating protocols for its two other Valley medical centers to use not just in the emergency rooms, but throughout the hospitals. In fact, one recommendation involves working with paramedics to apply hypothermia treatment en route to hospitals, Dr. Brewster said.

"We've done cooling measures for quite a long time, but there's never been a concerted effort to go hospital-wide with the process so that anyone who has a cardiac arrest in the local community or arrests in the hospital has the ability to benefit from the protocol," Dr. Brewster said.

About Providence Health & Services

Providence Health & Services, California, operates five award-winning medical centers in Southern California: Providence Saint Joseph, Providence Holy Cross, Providence Tarzana, Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance and Providence Little Company of Mary San Pedro Medical Centers. Providence Health is a nonprofit Catholic organization dedicated to quality, compassionate care for all and to investing in the health of the communities we serve. The Providence medical centers provide a full continuum of health care services.

Source: Providence Tarzana Medical Center