Therapeutic Hypothermia after Cardiac Arrest

Materials and Methods Sixty unconscious cardiac arrest patients with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) were treated with induced hypothermia in three Swedish hospitals during 18 months. Treatment was induced within two hours post arrest using cold saline (+4°C) (1), after which a water filled wrapping system (ThermoWrap®, MTRE) maintained target temperature at 33±1oC for 24h and controlled re-warming at 0.5 oC/h. The neurological outcome was evaluated at hospital discharge using the CPC-scale (2), where CPC 1-2 represents good outcome (mild or no impairment) and CPC 3-5 represents bad outcome (severe neurological impairment or death).