© 2002 the Emergency Medicine Journal
CASE REPORT
Dead? Or just cold: profoundly hypothermic patient with no signs of life
1 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, North Staffordshire Hospitals, Royal Infirmary, Princes Road, Stoke on Trent ST4 7LN, UK
2 Department of Clinical Perfusion, North Staffordshire Hospitals, Royal Infirmary, Stoke on Trent
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Mr J M Parmar;
Jitendra.Parmar{at}nstaffsh.wmids.nhs.uk
A 37 year old man was found in his garden cold with no signs of life. Pupils were fixed and dilated. Electrocardiography showed asystole initially. The paramedic crew started cardiopulmonary resuscitation and transferred him to the accident and emergency department. His temperature was 17.0°C. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was continued for three hours before rewarming using partial cardiopulmonary bypass. He eventually regained spontaneous cardiac output and made a full neurological recovery. Hypothermic patients with no evidence of life cannot be assumed to be dead as there is a chance of full recovery when fully warmed.
Keywords: hypothermia; circulatory arrest; resuscitation; cardiopulmonary bypass
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