Mild induced hypothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: persisting doubts about patient safety

Second, it is unclear why hypokalemia (75% of MIH cases) was dismissed as a factor for the incidence of cardiac dysrhythmia [1]. Temperature changes induce electrolyte shifts and thus influence the depolarization and repolarization times and the conduction velocity of action potentials within the myocardium, promoting aberrant conduction pathways. Electrolyte abnormalities associated with MIH can influence electrophysiological parameters of the myocardium, triggering dysrhythmia [3].