Mild Therapeutic Hypothermia to Improve the Neurologic Outcome after Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac arrest with widespread cerebral ischemia frequently leads to severe neurologic impairment. We studied whether mild systemic hypothermia increases the rate of neurologic recovery after resuscitation from cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation.

In this multicenter trial with blinded assessment of the outcome, patients who had been resuscitated after cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation were randomly assigned to undergo therapeutic hypothermia (target temperature, 32°C to 34°C, measured in the bladder) over a period of 24 hours or to receive standard treatment with normothermia. The primary end point was a favorable neurologic outcome within six months after cardiac arrest; secondary end points were mortality within six months and the rate of complications within seven days.