Cooling Treatment Revives Man Who Stopped Heart Three Times

Doctors at Phú Thọ Provincial General Hospital in Vietnam saved a 24-year-old man who experienced cardiac arrest three times, fell into a deep coma, and suffered multiple organ failure and severe lung damage. The man collapsed at his office and initially went into cardiac arrest while being transferred to a hospital in Tuyên Quang province. Despite resuscitation efforts, he suffered two additional cardiac arrests during transport.

Doctors at Phú Thọ Provincial General Hospital initiated induced hypothermia, cooling the patient’s body to 33-36 degrees Celsius to reduce metabolic demand and protect his brain from oxygen deprivation. This advanced resuscitation protocol, combined with continuous hemodialysis and mechanical ventilation, proved successful.

Following 24 hours of cooling, the patient’s condition improved dramatically. He regained consciousness, showed minimal brain damage on MRI scans, and was eventually able to breathe independently. Before discharge, doctors implanted an automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) to prevent future sudden cardiac death.