Suspended between life and death

• Autores: Helen Thomson
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2962, 2014, págs. 8-9
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Thomson discusses the groundbreaking emergency technique. Surgeons are now on call at the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh PA to perform the operation, which will buy doctors time to fix injuries that would otherwise be lethal. The technique involves replacing all of a patient's blood with a cold saline solution, which rapidly cools the body and stops almost all cellular activity. Without oxygen the brain can only survive for about five minutes before the damage is irreversible. However, at lower temperatures, cells need less oxygen because all chemical reactions slowdown. This explains why people who fall into icy lakes can sometimes be revived more than half an hour after they have stopped breathing.