ABSTRACT
AIM OF THE STUDY: Therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest improves neurologic outcome. The temperature measured in the pulmonary artery is considered to best reflect core temperature, yet is limited by invasiveness. Recently a femoro-arterial thermodilution catheter (PiCCO-Pulse Contour Cardiac Output) has been introduced in clinical practice as a safe and accurate haemodynamic monitoring system, which is also able to measure blood temperature. The aim of the study was to investigate, if the temperature measured with the PiCCO catheter reflects pulmonary artery temperature better than other sites during therapeutic hypothermia. METHODS: In this observational study twenty patients after cardiac arrest and successful resuscitation were cooled with various cooling methods to 33 ± 1°C for 24h, followed by rewarming. Temperatures were recorded continuously in the pulmonary artery (Tpa), femoro-iliacal artery (Tpicco), ear canal (Tear), oesophagus (Toeso) and urinary bladder (Tbla). We assessed agreement of methods using the Bland Altman approach including bias and limits of agreement (LA). RESULTS: All other sites differed significantly from Tpa with the bias varying from 0.4°C (Tbla) to -0.6°C (Tear). Standard deviations varied from 0.1°C (Tpicco, Toeso) to 0.5°C (Tear). For all sites bias was closer to zero with increasing average temperatures. Bias tended to be larger in the cooling phase compared to overall measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Temperature measurement in the femoro-iliacal artery (Tpicco) reflects the gold standard of pulmonary artery temperature most accurately, especially during the cooling phase. Tpicco is easily accessible and might be used for monitoring core temperature without the need for additional temperature probes.
Subject(s)
Body Temperature/physiology , Catheterization, Swan-Ganz/instrumentation , Femoral Artery/physiology , Heart Arrest/therapy , Hypothermia, Induced/methods , Monitoring, Physiologic/instrumentation , Pulmonary Artery/physiology , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Bias , Cohort Studies , Female , Heart Arrest/physiopathology , Humans , Hypothermia, Induced/instrumentation , Male , Middle Aged , Monitoring, Physiologic/methods , Thermodilution/instrumentationABSTRACT
AIM OF THE STUDY: Mild therapeutic hypothermia is a major advance in post-resuscitation-care. Some questions remain unclear regarding the time to initiate cooling and the time to achieve target temperature below 34 °C. We examined whether seasonal variability of outside temperature influences the body temperature of cardiac arrest victims, and if this might have an effect on outcome. METHODS: Patients with witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests were enrolled retrospectively. Temperature variables from 4 climatic stations in Vienna were provided from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics. Depending on the outside temperature at the scene the study participants were assigned to a seasonal group. To compare the seasonal groups a Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U test was performed as appropriate. RESULTS: Of 134 patients, 61 suffered their cardiac arrest during winter, with an outside temperature below 10 °C; in 39 patients the event occurred during summer, with an outside temperature above 20 °C. Comparing the tympanic temperature recorded at hospital admission, the median of 36 °C (IQR 35.3-36.3) during summer differed significantly to winter with a median of 34.9 °C (IQR 34-35.6) (p<0.05). This seasonal alterations in core body temperature had no impact on the time-to-target-temperature, survival rate or neurologic recovery. CONCLUSION: The seasonal variability of outside temperature influences body temperature of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims.
Subject(s)
Body Temperature/physiology , Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/methods , Hypothermia, Induced/methods , Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/physiopathology , Aged , Austria , Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/mortality , Climate Change , Cohort Studies , Female , Humans , Hypothermia, Induced/mortality , Male , Middle Aged , Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/mortality , Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/therapy , Retrospective Studies , Seasons , Survival Rate , Temperature , Time Factors , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Evidence regarding hypercoagulability in the first week after burn trauma is growing. This hypercoagulable state may partly be caused by increased fibrinogen levels. Rotational thrombelastometry offers a test which measures functional fibrinogen (FIBTEM(®)). To test the hypothesis that in patients with severe burn injury fibrinogen function changes over time, we simultaneously measured FIBTEM(®) and fibrinogen concentration early after burn trauma. METHODS: After Ethics Committee approval consecutive patients with severe burn trauma admitted to the burn intensive care unit of the General Hospital of Vienna were included in the study. Blood examinations were done immediately and 12, 24 and 48 h after admission. At each time point fibrinogen level (Clauss) and 4 commercially available ROTEM(®) tests were performed. RESULTS: 20 consecutive patients were included in the study. Fibrinogen level and FIBTEM(®) MCF were within the reference range until 24 h after burn trauma but increased significantly 48 h after trauma. There was a significant correlation between FIBTEM(®) MCF and fibrinogen level (R=0.714, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this prospective observational clinical study show that fibrinogen function changes early after burn trauma and can be visualized by ROTEM(®) with the fibrinogen-sensitive FIBTEM(®) test.
