Should We Try to Prevent Hyperthermia After Cardiac Arrest?

Dealing with the sequelae of cardiac arrest or asphyxia in a previously normal adult or child is always very difficult, for the pediatrician as much as the family. We now know that following resuscitation there can be a “latent” phase with transient recovery of cerebral energy metabolism, before a secondary phase of deterioration as determined by seizures, cytotoxic edema,¹ and cerebral energy failure.^{2 ,3} This latent phase may persist as long as 6 to 15 hours after reperfusion in infants.³ It is highly likely that the processes active during this latent period involve activation of the intracytoplasmic phase of programmed …