Hypothermia proven to improve survival and outcomes following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

According to the review article on "The Use of Hypothermia Therapy in Cardiac Arrest Survivors," therapeutic hypothermia appears to reduce the risk of brain injury in the approximately 400,000 people who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the U.S. each year. The authors, Sanjeev Nair and Justin Lundbye, Hartford Hospital (CT) and University of Connecticut School of Medicine, in Farmington, discuss when therapeutic hypothermia should and should not be used, various methods of reducing body temperature, and the different phases of hypothermia.

The Journal is under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief W. Dalton Dietrich, PhD, Kinetic Concepts Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neurology and Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine; European Editor Hans Friberg, MD, PhD, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Australasian Editor Stephen Bernard, MD, The Alfred Hospital, Victoria, Australia; and a distinguished multidisciplinary editorial board (http://www.liebertpub.com/products/eboard.aspx?pid=380).

Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management provides a strong multidisciplinary forum to foster greater understanding and awareness of this new emerging therapy and its clinical applications. The Journal spans basic research through clinical application and engages all members of the therapeutic hypothermia clinical team, including physicians, nurses, and first responders. Novel findings from translational preclinical investigations as well as clinical studies and trials are featured in original articles, state-of-the-art review articles, provocative roundtable discussions, clinical protocols, and best practices. Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management will be the journal of record, published in print and online with open access options.

Other topically related articles in the premier issue include: "Use of Therapeutic Hypothermia in Postcardiac Arrest Patients by Emergency Departments," which reports on a survey of emergency physicians in the U.S. to assess their use of therapeutic hypothermia in patients who suffer a heart attack and whose circulation is restored following ventricular fibrillation, and "Should Advanced Age Be A Limiting Factor in Providing Therapeutic Hypothermia to Cardiac Arrest Survivors? A Single-Center Observational Study," which reviews the outcomes of 113 unconscious out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors from 2002-2008 to determine whether older patients benefit from body temperature reducing therapy.

The inaugural issue of the Journal also includes a novel article describing the first study to explore the use of hypothermia in penetrating ballistic injury, entitled "Neuroprotection of Selective Brain Cooling after Penetrating Ballistic-like Brain Injury in Rats," and a case report on "Hypothermia and Protection from Acetaminophen-induced Liver Injury." Also featured is a provocative roundtable discussion on the "Future of Rewarming in Therapeutic Hypothermia for Traumatic Brain Injury: A Personalized Plan," and "The Arctic Challenge: Clinical Q&A," a regular feature of the Journal targeting first responders and the clinical care team in the emergency room and the ICU that will focus on translating therapeutic temperature management from theory to practice.

"The use of therapeutic hypothermia in the treatment of severely injured patients is now emerging as an acceptable and effective therapy," says Editor-in-Chief W. Dalton Dietrich. "Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management emerges at a time when increased communication in the field is urgently needed."

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