Warming up to therapeutic hypothermia

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs when an individual’s cardiac muscle fibres fail to beat synchronously to produce a pulse. Despite improvements in resuscitation since the 1950s, post-arrest prognosis remains poor from a neurological standpoint. Therapeutic hypothermia has been demonstrated to mitigate the anoxic brain injury that occurs during cardiac arrest. An element of post-cardiac arrest care guidelines since 2002, it is the only intervention that has been shown to improve neurological recovery. This paper examines the historical use of therapeutic hypothermia, delineates invasive and non-invasive methods of induction, discusses the debate surrounding the optimal temperature for cooling, and introduces ongoing research into this exciting field.