Therapeutic Hypothermia After the Return of Spontaneous Circulation

Induction of Therapeutic Hypothermia in the Pre-hospital Setting After the Return on Spontaneous Circulation: A Randomized Controlled Study

The purpose of this study is to determine if induced therapeutic hypothermia (ITH) in the pre-hospital setting of a four county emergency medical system (EMS) that serves both urban and rural communities improves meaningful survival from medical cardiac arrest.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Cardiac Arrest
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Induced therapeutic hypothermia

Detailed Description

Induction of therapeutic hypothermia after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in medical cardiac arrest is increasingly becoming the standard of care in the hospital setting. Several studies, including two sentinel research papers in the New England Journal of Medicine, show improved neurologic outcome with induced therapeutic hypothermia (ITH). 4, 5 This research led to a class IIa recommendation by the American Heart Association for ITH after ROSC in V-Fib arrest and a class IIb recommendation after ROSC in all other classes of medial cardiac arrest.6

The role of ITH in the pre-hospital setting is less clear. Studies currently exist that both show a benefit and fail to support improved outcomes.7-9 It has been suggested that the short transport times in most urban EMS systems might be part of the reason that some studies have failed to find benefit of ITH in the pre-hospital setting.

This is a prospective, randomized controlled trial involving all patients transported by CCEMS who have ROSC after a medical cardiac arrest and who are transported to a hospital that can continue ITH for 24 hours. All comatose patients who meet inclusion criteria will be randomized to either ITH in addition to continued treatment under standing protocols or regular care without ITH. Assignment to the two treatment arms will be done using the EMS number which is generated when the ambulance is dispatched to a call. Even numbered patients will have continued standard therapy while odd numbered patients will receive ITH.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 46
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Fresno, California, United States, 93701
      • Community Regional Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All patient transported by CCEMS with ROSC after a medical Cardiac Arrest to hospitals that can continue ITH

Exclusion Criteria:

• Less than 18
• Cardiac arrest due to trauma or hemorrhage
• Pregnant women
• patients whom are already hypothermic
• transported to a hospital that can not maintain hypothermia for 24 hours

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Induced Hypothermia; Induced hypothermia after the return of spontaneous circulation by the application of ice packs to the axilla and groin with cold IV fluids	Other: Induced therapeutic hypothermia; induced therapeutic hypothermia; Other Names: Medical Arrest; Cardiac Arrest; Return of spontaneous circulation; ROSC
No Intervention: Regular Care; Treatment of the return of spontaneous circulation under standing paramedic protocol without the addition of induced therapeutic hypothermia

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Induced therapeutic hypothermia in the pre-hospital setting improves outcomes	Induced hypothermia and continued treatment under standing paramedic protocols. To determine if ITH in the pre-hospital setting improves outcomes at hospital discharge	followed until hospital discharge estimated to be from 2 days to 1 year if resuscitated

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Regular treatment without induced therapeutic hypothermia	Patients will be treated under standing paramedic protocols without the induction of hypothermia. To determine if there is a difference in these outcomes in patients with prolonged transport to the hospital (> 20 minutes) versus those with shorter transport times.	followed until hospital discharge estimated to be from 2 days to 1 year if resuscitated

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lori Weichenthal, MD, University of California, San Francisco Fresno

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Finn JC, Bett JH, Shilton TR, Cunningham C, Thompson PL; National Heart Foundation of Australia Chest Pain Every Minute Counts Working Group. Patient delay in responding to symptoms of possible heart attack: can we reduce time to care? Med J Aust. 2007 Sep 3;187(5):293-8. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01247.x.
• Fridman M, Barnes V, Whyman A, Currell A, Bernard S, Walker T, Smith KL. A model of survival following pre-hospital cardiac arrest based on the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Register. Resuscitation. 2007 Nov;75(2):311-22. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2007.05.005. Epub 2007 Jun 20.
• Jennings PA, Cameron P, Walker T, Bernard S, Smith K. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Victoria: rural and urban outcomes. Med J Aust. 2006 Aug 7;185(3):135-9. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00498.x.
• Zeiner A, Holzer M, Sterz F, Behringer W, Schorkhuber W, Mullner M, Frass M, Siostrzonek P, Ratheiser K, Kaff A, Laggner AN. Mild resuscitative hypothermia to improve neurological outcome after cardiac arrest. A clinical feasibility trial. Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest (HACA) Study Group. Stroke. 2000 Jan;31(1):86-94. doi: 10.1161/01.str.31.1.86.
• Bernard SA, Gray TW, Buist MD, Jones BM, Silvester W, Gutteridge G, Smith K. Treatment of comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with induced hypothermia. N Engl J Med. 2002 Feb 21;346(8):557-63. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa003289.
• Guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiac care. Emergency Cardiac Care Committee and Subcommittees, American Heart Association. Part IV. Special resuscitation situations. JAMA. 1992 Oct 28;268(16):2242-50. No abstract available.
• Hinchey PR, Myers JB, Lewis R, De Maio VJ, Reyer E, Licatese D, Zalkin J, Snyder G; Capital County Research Consortium. Improved out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival after the sequential implementation of 2005 AHA guidelines for compressions, ventilations, and induced hypothermia: the Wake County experience. Ann Emerg Med. 2010 Oct;56(4):348-57. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2010.01.036. Epub 2010 Mar 31.
• Bernard SA, Smith K, Cameron P, Masci K, Taylor DM, Cooper DJ, Kelly AM, Silvester W; Rapid Infusion of Cold Hartmanns (RICH) Investigators. Induction of therapeutic hypothermia by paramedics after resuscitation from out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest: a randomized controlled trial. Circulation. 2010 Aug 17;122(7):737-42. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.906859. Epub 2010 Aug 2.
• Cabanas JG, Brice JH, De Maio VJ, Myers B, Hinchey PR. Field-induced therapeutic hypothermia for neuroprotection after out-of hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review of the literature. J Emerg Med. 2011 Apr;40(4):400-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2010.07.002. Epub 2010 Sep 17.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): February 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 27, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 7, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): June 12, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): February 14, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 12, 2014
• Last Verified: February 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Cardiac arrest; Pre-hospital hypothermia; Induced therapeutic hypothermia
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Heart Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Body Temperature Changes; Heart Arrest; Hypothermia
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2012051

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No