The first randomized intra-arrest cooling study has been selected for presentation as a Late Breaking trial during the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions next month.
The Pre-Resuscitation Intra-Nasal Cooling Effectiveness (PRINCE) study was conducted by 15 Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Sweden with 200 patients to determine whether the addition of direct-to-the-brain cooling during cardiac arrest has a beneficial effect. The study was conducted using a novel, non-invasive nasal catheter, which sprays evaporative coolant liquid into the nasal cavity, right beneath the brain.
Therapeutic hypothermia currently is recommended for patients successfully resuscitated from cardiac arrest once they reach the hospital. However, many medical professionals believe that cooling could be more effective if started earlier, ideally at the time of arrest, but current hypothermia methods are not practical in this setting. The PRINCE study tested rapid initiation of brain cooling at the site of arrest even before normal circulation was reestablished.
Lead investigator and study co-author Maaret Castren, M.D., Ph.D. of the Department of Clinical Science and Education, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden and the Department of Emergency Medicine, Sodersjukhuset will present the findings on Sunday, November 15 in Orlando, FL during the AHA's Resuscitation Science Symposium "Best of the Best" presentations at 6:15 p.m. EST.
The study was sponsored by BeneChill(R), a privately held medical device company, which develops novel, rapid cooling systems to improve survival after cardiac arrest. Its lead product, RhinoChill(TM), which was used in the PRINCE study, can be administered quickly and directly to the brain by a proprietary portable system that uses a nasal catheter to deliver a rapid evaporative coolant. RhinoChill(TM) will be marketed in Europe in early 2010 and currently is an investigational device in the U.S., with 510k approval pending.
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