title: Therapeutic hypothermia: a state-of-the-art emergency medicine perspective.
abstract: Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) has gained popularity as a brain-protective strategy for victims of sudden cardiac death in whom return of spontaneous circulation has been achieved but coma persists. Trials have also demonstrated some advantageous effects of lowering core body temperature after stroke and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy of the newborn. In a variety of clinical conditions, TH is still being studied (eg, hepatic encephalopathy and traumatic brain injury). This study describes the historical development of TH, its current applications in emergency medicine, and its potential future uses.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX 77030-3209, USA. jvaron@roamer.net
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Varon
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Marik
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Einav
mesh_terms: D001831:Body Temperature; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000517:prevention & control; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic