Faculty Collaboration Database

Therapeutic Hypothermia after In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Children. N Engl J Med 2017 Jan 26;376(4):318-329

Date

01/25/2017

Pubmed ID

28118559

Pubmed Central ID

PMC5310766

DOI

10.1056/NEJMoa1610493

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85011019583 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   206 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Targeted temperature management is recommended for comatose adults and children after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; however, data on temperature management after in-hospital cardiac arrest are limited.

METHODS: In a trial conducted at 37 children's hospitals, we compared two temperature interventions in children who had had in-hospital cardiac arrest. Within 6 hours after the return of circulation, comatose children older than 48 hours and younger than 18 years of age were randomly assigned to therapeutic hypothermia (target temperature, 33.0°C) or therapeutic normothermia (target temperature, 36.8°C). The primary efficacy outcome, survival at 12 months after cardiac arrest with a score of 70 or higher on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, second edition (VABS-II, on which scores range from 20 to 160, with higher scores indicating better function), was evaluated among patients who had had a VABS-II score of at least 70 before the cardiac arrest.

RESULTS: The trial was terminated because of futility after 329 patients had undergone randomization. Among the 257 patients who had a VABS-II score of at least 70 before cardiac arrest and who could be evaluated, the rate of the primary efficacy outcome did not differ significantly between the hypothermia group and the normothermia group (36% [48 of 133 patients] and 39% [48 of 124 patients], respectively; relative risk, 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.67 to 1.27; P=0.63). Among 317 patients who could be evaluated for change in neurobehavioral function, the change in VABS-II score from baseline to 12 months did not differ significantly between the groups (P=0.70). Among 327 patients who could be evaluated for 1-year survival, the rate of 1-year survival did not differ significantly between the hypothermia group and the normothermia group (49% [81 of 166 patients] and 46% [74 of 161 patients], respectively; relative risk, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.85 to 1.34; P=0.56). The incidences of blood-product use, infection, and serious adverse events, as well as 28-day mortality, did not differ significantly between groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Among comatose children who survived in-hospital cardiac arrest, therapeutic hypothermia, as compared with therapeutic normothermia, did not confer a significant benefit in survival with a favorable functional outcome at 1 year. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; THAPCA-IH ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00880087 .).

Author List

Moler FW, Silverstein FS, Holubkov R, Slomine BS, Christensen JR, Nadkarni VM, Meert KL, Browning B, Pemberton VL, Page K, Gildea MR, Scholefield BR, Shankaran S, Hutchison JS, Berger JT, Ofori-Amanfo G, Newth CJ, Topjian A, Bennett KS, Koch JD, Pham N, Chanani NK, Pineda JA, Harrison R, Dalton HJ, Alten J, Schleien CL, Goodman DM, Zimmerman JJ, Bhalala US, Schwarz AJ, Porter MB, Shah S, Fink EL, McQuillen P, Wu T, Skellett S, Thomas NJ, Nowak JE, Baines PB, Pappachan J, Mathur M, Lloyd E, van der Jagt EW, Dobyns EL, Meyer MT, Sanders RC Jr, Clark AE, Dean JM, THAPCA Trial Investigators

Authors

Michael T. Meyer MD Chief, Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Martin K. Wakeham MD Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Body Temperature
Child
Child, Preschool
Coma
Female
Heart Arrest
Hospitalization
Hospitals, Pediatric
Humans
Hypothermia, Induced
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Survival Analysis
Treatment Failure