Comparative evaluation of the usability of 2 different methods to perform mild hypothermia in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

摘要

BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown that mild hypothermia (32-34 degrees C) markedly mitigates brain damage after cardiac arrest (CA). This study aimed to compare the efficacy of the non-invasive cooling device Hilotherm Clinic (Hilotherm GmbH, Germany) with conventional cooling to induce and maintain mild hypothermia in patients after out-of-hospital CA. METHODS: 50 adult patients with an indication for controlled mild hypothermia were prospectively assigned to conventional cooling (n=20) or cooling with the Hilotherm system (n=30). Patients receiving a cooling therapy by Hilotherm were treated either with 0.35 m(2) (n=20) or with 0.7 m(2) (n=10) surface area of cooling sleeves. RESULTS: The speed of cooling was significantly higher in both Hilotherm groups compared to conventional cooling (Hilotherm 0.7 m(2): 0.91 +/- 0.08 degrees C/h, Hilotherm 0.35 m(2): 0.47 +/- 0.04 degrees C/h, and conventional: 0.3 +/- 0.04 degrees C/h, p