Successful treatment of severe heatstroke with therapeutic hypothermia by a noninvasive external cooling system.

Abstract

Heatstroke is a life-threatening disease; however, no pharmacologic treatment has proven to be effective. In severe cases with multiple organ dysfunction, the mortality remains high and many patients inevitably develop permanent neurologic damage. We report a near-fatal case of exertional heatstroke with multiple organ dysfunction, including generalized convulsions, acute lung injury, and disseminated intravascular coagulation, successfully treated with induced therapeutic hypothermia (33°C [91.4°F]) by a noninvasive external cooling system. After treatment, the patient completely recovered, without any neurologic sequelae during 1 year of follow-up. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of using therapeutic hypothermia in heatstroke.