Dramatic Neuronal Rescue with Prolonged Selective Head Cooling after Ischemia in Fetal Lambs
Alistair J. Gunn, Tania R. Gunn, Harmen H. de Haan, Christopher E. Williams, and Peter D. Gluckman
The American Society for Clinical Investigation, 1997
Unanesthetized near term fetal sheep were subject to 30 min of cerebral ischemia to determine whether prolonged head cooling improves outcome from severe ischemia. Intrauterine cooling was induced by a coil around the fetal head leading to extradural temperatures of 5-10ºC and esophageal temperatures of 1.5-3ºC. Cerebral cooling reduced secondary cortical cytotoxic edema and caused a dramatic reduction in the extent of cortical infarction and neuronal loss in all regions assessed. Selective head cooling can improve neonatal outcome after perinatal asphyxia.