Induced hypothermia following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; initial experience in a community hospital.

BACKGROUND: Successful resuscitation from sudden cardiac death is frequently accompanied by severe and often fatal neurologic injury. Induced hypothermia (IH) may attenuate the neurologic damage observed in patients after cardiac arrest.

HYPOTHESIS: This study examined a population of nonselected patients presenting to a community hospital following successful resuscitation of sudden cardiac death. We sought to determine whether a program of induced hypothermia would improve the clinical outcome of these critically ill patients.

METHODS: We initiated a protocol of IH at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital in August of 2003. Study patients were consecutive adults admitted following successful resuscitation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Moderate hypothermia was induced by surface cooling and maintained for 24 to 36 h in the Intensive Care Unit with passive rewarming over 8 h.

RESULTS: Forty-nine patients who were resuscitated and had the return of spontaneous circulation completed the hypothermia protocol. The cause of cardiac arrest was acute myocardial infarction in 24 patients and cardiac arrhythmias in 19 patients. Nineteen patients (39%) survived and were discharged. Sixteen of the patients discharged had no or minimal residual neurologic dysfunction and 3 patients had clinically significant residual neurologic injury.

CONCLUSION: A program of induced hypothermia based in a community hospital is feasible, practical, and requires limited additional financial and nursing resources. Survival and neurologic recovery compare favorably with clinical trial outcomes.