Therapeutic Hypothermia in Post-Cardiac Arrest and Myocardial Infarction

Therapeutic hypothermia and cardiac temperature management strategies are being used in selected patients, including those who had cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction. A series of state-of-the-art lectures presented at the 2015 Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management meeting in Miami brought together experts in the field of therapeutic hypothermia targeting these conditions. Dr. Marko Noc, University Medical Center, Ljubliana, Slovenia, discussed the use of therapeutic hypothermia in acute myocardial infarction. Recent studies have emphasized the opportunities from myocardial salvage in evolving ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated by mechanical reperfusion with primary PCI. Dr. Noc presented an informative review of experimental and randomized therapeutic hypothermia trials, lessons learned from these trials, and future directions. Dr. Michael Kurz, University of Alabama at Birmingham, discussed the importance of cooling duration study for targeting post-cardiac arrest. Dr. Kurz discussed the importance of thermodynamics and how this physiological variable can directly impact targeted temperature management and postresuscitation care. Finally, Dr. Mayuki Aibiki, Department of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, Matsuyama, Japan, spoke on a new protocol using therapeutic hypothermia for post-cardiac arrest syndrome. Dr. Aibiki summarized the J-Pulse-HYPO study conducted in Japan and current protocols using therapeutic hypothermia. A case study discussion described full recovery after cardiac arrest with therapeutic hypothermia 82 minutes after collapse. These discussions resulted in a very informative question-and-answer session that touched upon many aspects important to individuals involved with treating these critically ill patients.