Therapeutic Hypothermia after Prolonged Cardiac Arrest: Case Report with Review of Literature.
Patients who survive cardiac arrest often develop severe neurological dysfunction due to the hypoxic brain injury and reperfusion induced cell death. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) has become a standard therapy of cerebral protection following the successful return of spontaneous circulation in patients of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, according to American heart association guidelines. This is a case report of a 30-year-old patient who developed in-hospital cardiac arrest and was revived after prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and also required primary angioplasty. TH was then established with local measures for 24 hours for cerebral protection. The patient was gradually and successfully weaned off from ventilator with no neurological impairment. There is an increasing evidence of TH and its protective mechanisms in patients with non-shockable arrest rhythms with particular emphasis on neurological outcomes. This article emphasizes the role of TH in every successful CPR irrespective of the cardiac rhythm.
Attending Consultant-Critical Care, Rockland Hospital, Qutab Institutional Area , New Delhi, India .
Gautam
G
Rawal
General Duty Medical Officer-II, Chest Clinic , Moti Nagar, New Delhi, India .
Sankalp
S
Yadav
Senior Consultant and Head-Critical Care, Rockland Hospital , Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi, India .
Nitin
N
Garg
Asystole; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Neurological outcome; Return of spontaneous circulation