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Cooling the asphyxiated brain - ready for clinical trials?
1St Michael's Hospital, Division of Child Health, University of Bristol, Southwell Street, BS2 8EG Bristol, UK,
European Journal of Pediatrics
|December 11, 1999
Unlabelled:
Recent research using newborn animal models of hypoxia-ischaemia has shown that cooling the subject from 3 to 6 degrees C starting after the insult and lasting up to 72 h offers long-lasting neuroprotection. One concern is that additional stress during hypothermia seems to reduce the beneficial effect. Phase 1 studies on cooling severely asphyxiated infants have not yet revealed any systemic adverse effects.
Conclusion:
The evidence is strongly in favor of hypothermia reducing brain damage after asphyxia and the time has come for undertaking randomized trials.