BRAIN-COOL TECHNIQUE CLEARED TO SAVE LIVES
NEW hope for patients in cardiac arrest emerged yesterday when a brain-cooling technique was declared safe and effective.
Therapeutic hypothermia, also used for some stroke victims, cools the brain, thereby slowing the death of cells once they have been starved of oxygen.
This can save lives and give surgeons precious extra hours to help patients make a full recovery.
Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said cooling of selected patients increased their chances of survival and also reduced the risk of severe brain damage.
But a cautious Professor Bruce Campbell, head of the Nice team involved, added: “We still need to find out more about precisely which patients are most likely to benefit.”
Some NHS units are already pioneering the technique, also used for babies deprived of oxygen at birth.
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