Physiological interventions in cardiac arrest: passing the pilot phase

The damaging processes leading to a poor outcome after cardiac arrest start at the onset of ischemia and continues during the reperfusion phase. Intensive care treatment in resuscitated patients relies on organ support restoring normal physiology with attention to brain protection. Drugs have not proven beneficial in randomised trials. To date induced hypothermia, or targeted temperature management (TTM), is the only specific intervention implemented in clinical practice. Nevertheless, its final role and configuration are still under debate and are currently being investigated. …