Helmets that cool the brain may slow down the spreading damage caused by a stroke, buying precious hours for patients, researchers reported on Thursday.
Such a helmet might be used by ambulance crews to stabilize stroke victims while getting them to hospitals for brain-saving treatment, the researchers said.
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, with most caused by blood clots cutting off blood flow to the brain. The longer the clot lasts, the worse the damage.
Clot-busting treatment can minimize damage but must be given within hours, usually three hours, of the stroke.
Cooling patients has been found to help prevent the damage of a heart attack and now two teams told the American Heart Association’s annual International Stroke Conference it may work for stroke, too.
The problem has been how to cool the brain without affecting the rest of the body.
Dr. Kentaro Yamada of the National Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan and colleagues said they tested a “helmet-type cooling apparatus” on 17 patients with severe stroke.
His team put the cooling helmet on patients three to 12 hours after their strokes and left it on for up to a week.
Some patients shivered mildly and had elevated potassium levels, mild skin damage and infections, but none had serious adverse effects, Yamada said.
A similar U.S. study used liquid cooling technology developed by NASA scientist William Elkins for space suits, said Dr. Huan Wang, a neurosurgeon at the University of Illinois in Peoria.
His team used tiny fiber optic probes inserted in the brain to monitor the temperature.
The patients’ brains cooled an average of 6 degrees F (2.5 degrees C) the first hour, without dropping body temperature significantly. Patients tolerated it for an average of six to eight hours before body temperature dropped below healthy levels, they said.
