Therapeutic Hypothermia After Pediatric Cardiac Arrest: The THAPCA Trials (Telephone Follow Up Center)

Cardiac arrest in childhood often results in death or poor quality neurologic survival. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in children is usually preceded by respiratory failure and hypoxia, whereas in-hospital cardiac arrest is usually preceded by hypotension. Survival rate and neurologic outcomes are worse for out-of-hospital compared to in-hospital cardiac arrest. Studies with animals, adults, and newborns suggest that therapeutic hypothermia, that is cooling the body to 32-34 degrees C, immediately after the cardiac arrest event results in improved neurologic status for survivors. To date, no controlled studies of therapeutic hypothermia have been done in children after out-of-hospital or in-hospital cardiac arrest.