title: Randomized clinical study of thiopental loading in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest.
abstract: After restoration of spontaneous circulation and adequate oxygenation, 262 comatose survivors of cardiac arrest were randomly assigned to receive standard brain-oriented intensive care or the same standard therapy plus a single intravenous loading dose of thiopental (30 mg per kilogram of body weight). The study was designed to have an 80 percent probability of detecting a 20 percent reduction in the incidence of permanent postischemic cerebral dysfunction. Base-line characteristics were similar in the two treatment groups. At the end of one year of follow-up, there was no statistically significant difference between treatment groups in the proportion of patients who died (77 percent of the thiopental vs. 80 percent of the standard-therapy group), survived with "good" cerebral recovery (20 percent of the thiopental vs. 15 percent of the standard-therapy group), or survived with permanent severe neurologic damage (2 percent of the thiopental vs. 5 percent of the standard-therapy group). The results of this study do not support the use of thiopental for brain resuscitation after cardiac arrest.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003128:Coma / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000379:methods; D013874:Thiopental / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D013874:Thiopental