Therapeutic hypothermia offers no significant benefits for infants or children after in-hospital cardiac arrest

NIH: In a multicenter, international study of infants and children who suffered cardiac arrest while in the hospital, NIH-funded researchers have found that body cooling, or therapeutic hypothermia, is no more effective than actively keeping the body at a normal temperature, or therapeutic normothermia.
The study is the first to look exclusively at in-hospital cardiac arrests in infants and children in order to compare the two temperature treatments. Earlier trials involving adults who went into cardiac arrest outside of a hospital had found that therapeutic hypothermia improved survival and brain function. However, recent trials in adults and children did not find such improvements when compared with patients whose temperature was actively maintained in a normal temperature range to prevent fever.

CPR Training Less Common among Older Adults, Who May be at Highest Risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Pennsylvania: More than 350,000 Americans suffer from out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) each year. It strikes at work, in the grocery store, on the soccer field, and even at home, where it’s critical for bystanders to take quick action by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). But only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims nationwide receive the lifesaving intervention. New research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania sheds light on training gaps that could pave the way to boosting the number of people who are prepared to jump into action.

Swift intervention doubles survival rate from cardiac arrest

Stockholm: A team of Swedish researchers finds that early cardiopulmonary resuscitation more than doubles the chance of survival for patients suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The percentage of patients who receive life-saving resuscitation has also increased substantially thanks to so-called SMS Lifesavers. These results are published simultaneously in two studies in the most highly reputed  New England Journal of Medicine. “Both these studies clearly show that cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an effective, life-saving treatment, and that further encouragement must be given to respond swiftly on suspected cardiac arrest,” says Dr Jacob Hollenberg, Cardiologist and Head of Research at the Center for Resuscitation Science.

New hope for understanding sudden cardiac arrest

Kent University. UK: New biosciences research at the University could point the way to greater understanding of the heart mutations that cause sudden cardiac arrest. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic condition that one in 500 people carry and is a leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes. The footballer Fabrice Muamba famously collapsed during a match when his heart suddenly stopped.