Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 1998;78:F85-F88 ( March )
Special review
Treatment of hypoxic-ischaemic brain damage by moderate
hypothermia
A D Edwards,a
J S Wyatt,b
M Thoresenc
a Section of Paediatrics
Imperial College School of Medicine Hammersmith
Hospital London, b Department of
Paediatrics University College London School of Medicine
London, c Department of Child Health
University of Bristol St Michael's Hospital
Bristol
Correspondence to: Professor A D Edwards Section of Paediatrics
Imperial College School of Medicine Hammersmith
Hospital London W12 ONN. email dedwards@rpms.ac.uk
Accepted 18 December 1997
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
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Introduction |
To many people, especially writers of science fiction
interested in preserving brains for narrative purposes, it seems self evident that cooling the brain protects it against hypoxic-ischaemic damage. Indeed, every day, cardiac surgeons and anaesthetists cool the
brains of children during surgery to protect them against the effects
of cardiac arrest or cardiopulmonary bypass.
However there has long been a hope that cooling the brain
after hypoxia-ischaemia might lessen cerebral injury.
Observational data in support of this were collected by Westin and
colleagues 40 years ago,1 but experimental studies in
animal models at that time failed to support the hypothesis and it fell
from favour.2 Now the belief is gaining ground again among
basic researchers that moderate brain cooling to around
32oC is one of several interventions which can be applied
after hypoxia-ischaemia to modify the process of brain cell death and
so lessen cerebral damage.
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Delayed cerebral damage after hypoxia-ischaemia |
A cornerstone of this . . . [Full text of this article]
