OBJECTIVE To review human thermoregulation and the pathophysiology and management of induced and accidental hypothermia. DATA SOURCES A review of studies reported over ten years from 1990 to 2000 and identified through a MEDLINE search of the English-language literature on thermoregulation and induced and accidental hypothermia. SUMMARY OF REVIEW Hypothermia is defined as a core temperature...

During cardiopulmonary bypass, the rates of cooling and rewarming and the maximum temperatures attained are implicated in patient morbidity. Thus, accurate oxygenator arterial outlet temperature measurements are needed. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the arterial outlet temperature probe on the "Affinity NT" membrane oxygenator in measuring perfusate temperatures. An...

BACKGROUND Recently, veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) has become the rewarming treatment of choice in hypothermic cardiac arrest. The detailed indications for extracorporeal rewarming in non-arrested, severely hypothermic patients with circulatory instability have not been established yet. The primary purpose of the study was a preliminary analysis of all aspects of t...

OBJECTIVES The study compares the efficacy of two active and one passive warming interventions in healthy volunteers with induced mild hypothermia. METHODS Eight volunteers were studied in a random order crossover design. Each volunteer was studied during re-warming from a core temperature of 35 degrees C with each of: a radiant warmer (Fisher & Paykel); a forced air warmer (Augustine Medical...

Background: Hypothermia is usually used during cardiac surgery to further protect against cardiac and cerebral ischemia. However, cognitive impairment could be a common complication after open heart surgery. This study aims to determine the effect of rewarming on the cognitive status of patients after open heart surgery.  Methods: The present study was conducted as a double-blind, randomized c...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Organ shortage in transplantation medicine forces surgical research toward the development of more efficient approaches in organ preservation to enable the application of 'less than optimal' grafts. This review summarizes current techniques aiming to recondition cold-stored organ grafts prior to transplantation to reduce reperfusion-induced tissue injury and improve postimplan...

BACKGROUND Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is becoming standard of care in newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The prognostic value of the EEG and the incidence of seizures during TH are uncertain. OBJECTIVE To describe evolution of EEG background and incidence of seizures during TH, and to identify EEG patterns predictive for MRI brain injury. METHODS A total of 41 newborns w...