The use of therapeutic hypothermia after cardiopulmonary arrest

ABSTRACT

Actually recommended by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), therapeutic hypothermia has been the only modality shown to improve neurological outcomes after cardiac arrest. This article provides the background for such recommendations as well as: pathophysiology, review of brain injury during cardiac arrest, discussion of beneficial effects of therapeutic hypothermia, different mechanisms used to induce it and the latest clinical trials results.