IMPORTANCE Therapeutic hypothermia may increase survival with good neurologic outcome after cardiac arrest. Trans-nasal evaporative cooling is a method used to induce cooling, primarily of the brain, during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ie, intra-arrest). OBJECTIVE To determine whether prehospital trans-nasal evaporative intra-arrest cooling improves survival with good neurologic outcome compared with cooling initiated after hospital arrival. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS The PRINCESS trial was an investigator-initiated, randomized, clinical, international multicenter study with blinded assessment of the outcome, performed by emergency medical services in 7 European countries from July 2010 to January 2018, with final follow-up on April 29, 2018. In total, 677 patients with bystander-witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were enrolled. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomly assigned to receive trans-nasal evaporative intra-arrest cooling (n = 343) or standard care (n = 334). Patients admitted to the hospital in both groups received systemic therapeutic hypothermia at 32°C to 34°C for 24 hours. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was survival with good neurologic outcome, defined as Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) 1-2, at 90 days. Secondary outcomes were survival at 90 days and time to reach core body temperature less than 34°C. RESULTS Among the 677 randomized patients (median age, 65 years; 172 [25%] women), 671 completed the trial. Median time to core temperature less than 34°C was 105 minutes in the intervention group vs 182 minutes in the control group (P < .001). The number of patients with CPC 1-2 at 90 days was 56 of 337 (16.6%) in the intervention cooling group vs 45 of 334 (13.5%) in the control group (difference, 3.1% [95% CI, −2.3% to 8.5%]; relative risk [RR], 1.23 [95% CI, 0.86-1.72]; P = .25). In the intervention group, 60 of 337 patients (17.8%) were alive at 90 days vs 52 of 334 (15.6%) in the control group (difference, 2.2% [95% CI, −3.4% to 7.9%]; RR, 1.14 [95% CI, 0.81-1.57]; P = .44). Minor nosebleed was the most common device-related adverse event, reported in 45 of 337 patients (13%) in the intervention group. The adverse event rate within 7 days was similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, trans-nasal evaporative intra-arrest cooling compared with usual care did not result in a statistically significant improvement in survival with good neurologic outcome at 90 days.

Tranexamic acid 15 mg/kg given as a single preoperative bolus dose reduces postoperative and total blood loss, and packed cell transfusion requirements in primary total hip replacement surgery.

Gas gangrene of the liver is a rare clinical syndrome associated with a high rate of mortality. It is mostly associated with malignancy and immunosuppression. We report on a male patient who presented at the department of emergency medicine with high fever but no localised complaints. CT scan revealed a cavitary lesion filled with air in the liver. Clostridium perfringens was proved to be present in the hepatic lesion and the blood, and clostridium perfringens sepsis with gas gangrene of the liver was diagnosed. Despite early diagnosis and treatment the patient died. The importance of "an aggressive treatment policy" in this kind of life-threatening disease is emphasised.

Background Randomized trials have shown that trans-nasal evaporative cooling initiated during CPR (i.e. intra-arrest) effectively lower core body temperature in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. However, these trials may have been underpowered to detect significant differences in neurologic outcome, especially in patients with initial shockable rhythm. Methods We conducted a post hoc pooled analysis of individual data from two randomized trials including 851 patients who eventually received the allocated intervention and with available outcome (“as-treated” analysis). Primary outcome was survival with favourable neurological outcome at hospital discharge (Cerebral Performance Category [CPC] of 1–2) according to the initial rhythm (shockable vs. non-shockable). Secondary outcomes included complete neurological recovery (CPC 1) at hospital discharge. Results Among the 325 patients with initial shockable rhythms, favourable neurological outcome was observed in 54/158 (34.2%) patients in the intervention and 40/167 (24.0%) in the control group (RR 1.43 [confidence intervals, CIs 1.01–2.02]). Complete neurological recovery was observed in 40/158 (25.3%) in the intervention and 27/167 (16.2%) in the control group (RR 1.57 [CIs 1.01–2.42]). Among the 526 patients with initial non-shockable rhythms, favourable neurological outcome was in 10/259 (3.8%) in the intervention and 13/267 (4.9%) in the control group (RR 0.88 [CIs 0.52–1.29]; p = 0.67); survival and complete neurological recovery were also similar between groups. No significant benefit was observed for the intervention in the entire population. Conclusions In this pooled analysis of individual data, intra-arrest cooling was associated with a significant increase in favourable neurological outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients with initial shockable rhythms. Future studies are needed to confirm the potential benefits of this intervention in this subgroup of patients.

We present the case report of a 57-year-old woman with severe monointoxication with dosulepine (Prothiaden) who developed a Brugada-like electrocardiographic pattern. In tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) poisoning the Brugada-like pattern on electrocardiogram is a characteristic albeit rare manifestation of the frequently occurring conduction abnormalities in the myocardium and its recognition is imperative as it is associated with a higher degree of morbidity and mortality. An overview of the literature is given and recommendations concerning treatment of TCA-induced arrhythmias are provided. After successful treatment, the electrocardiogram in the patient normalized. However, 4 days after intoxication, the ajmaline test was positive (pharmacological induction of a type I Brugada-like pattern), but a subsequent one, repeated after 11 days, was reportedly normal, probably because of the slow clearance of dosulepine. This raises questions about the specificity of ajmaline testing for Brugada syndrome in patients taking dosulepine and perhaps other TCAs and neuroleptic agents.