NDT Advance Access originally published online on December 4, 2008
Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 2009 24(3):1054-1056; doi:10.1093/ndt/gfn674
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Survival after 5-h resuscitation attempt for hypothermic cardiac arrest using CVVH for extracorporeal rewarming
1 Renal Unit, Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline 2 Department of Medicine, Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy 3 Intensive Care Unit, Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline 4 Emergency Department, Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, Fife, UK
Correspondence and offprint requests to: Annette Alfonzo, Renal Unit, Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline, Fife KY12 0SU, UK. Tel: +44- 1383-623623; Fax: +44-1383-627096; E-mail: annette.alfonzo{at}faht.scot.nhs.uk
| Abstract |
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Hypothermic cardiac arrest is associated with a high mortality despite advances in pre-hospital rescue, rewarming techniques and intensive care management. Prolonged resuscitation is justified and full neurological recovery has been described using various methods of extracorporeal rewarming (Vretenar DF, Urschel JD, Parrott JCW et al. Ann Thorac Surg 1994; 58: 895–898; Hughes A, Riou P, Day C. Emerg Med J 2007; 24: 511–512). Extracorporeal rewarming is usually required at temperatures below 32°C or in the presence of cardiovascular instability or neurological dysfunction (Wilkey SA. Am J Clin Med 2004; 1: 4–11). Resuscitation guidelines suggest cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) as the method of choice in cardiac arrest, but in practice availability is restricted (Soar J, Deakin CD, Nolan JP et al. Resuscitation 2005; 67: S135–S170). Continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVH) is an alternative, but underutilized approach which warrants further consideration given its ease and wider availability.
Keywords: Cardiac arrest; haemofiltration; hypothermia; rewarming
Received for publication: 21. 8.08
Accepted in revised form: 12.11.08