Reducing Brain Damage After Cardiac Arrest

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 18 May 2006 - 21:00 PDT


Much of the damage from cardiac arrest is neurological. As the brain is starved for blood flow and oxygen, severe brain injury can result. Data from controlled studies in Europe and Australia suggest that controlled hypothermia may reduce mortality and neurological damage.

In the first North American report on the clinical use of hypothermia as a post-cardiac arrest therapy, researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University have confirmed the benefits of this treatment. Although the sample was limited to 15 patients, 80% survived compared to only 40% survival in the same types of patients before hypothermia was started. A higher number of patients recovered with intact neurological function using the Cerebral Performance Category assessment compared to controls. However, on the Overall Performance Category assessment, there was no significant difference.

Marcus Ong MD states, "Data from our clinical program offers further evidence that hypothermia post-resuscitation is effective in reducing mortality and preserving cerebral function. It is hoped this will encourage other centers to consider adopting hypothermia protocols in their ICU's."

The presentation is "Controlled Therapeutic Hypothermia Post-Cardiac Arrest Compared To Standard Intensive Care Unit Therapy" by Marcus EH Ong MD, Mary Ann Peberdy MD, Renata Sampson RN, and Joseph P. Ornato MD. This poster will be presented at the 2006 SAEM Annual Meeting, May 18-21, 2006, San Francisco, CA on Sunday, May 21, 2006, from 12:00 PM until 2:00 PM in the Exhibit Hall of the San Francisco Marriott. Abstracts of the papers presented are published in the May issue of the official journal of the SAEM, Academic Emergency Medicine.

About The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
www.saem.org

The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) is a national non-profit organization of over 6,000 academic emergency physicians, emergency medicine residents and medical students. SAEM's mission is to improve patient care by advancing research and education in emergency medicine. SAEM's vision is to promote ready access to quality emergency care for all patients, to advance emergency medicine as an academic and clinical discipline, and to maintain the highest professional standards as clinicians, teachers, and researchers. The SAEM Annual Meeting attracts approximately 2,000 medical students, residents and academic emergency physicians. It provides the largest forum for the presentation of original research in the specialty of Emergency Medicine.

About Academic Emergency Medicine
www.aemj.org

The SAEM's official journal, Academic Emergency Medicine, is published by Elsevier. Established in 1994, Academic Emergency Medicine is a monthly peer-reviewed journal that publishes material relevant to the practice, education, and investigation of emergency medicine, and reaches a wide audience of emergency care practitioners and educators. Each issue contains a broad range of topics relevant to the improvement of emergency, urgent or critical care of the acutely ill or injured patient. Regular features include original research, preliminary reports, education & practice and annotated literature.

About Elsevier
http://www.elsevier.com

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (sciencedirect.com), MD Consult (mdconsult.com), Scopus (info.scopus.com), bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

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