Benefits of Brain Cooling After Stroke Being Explored

Local researchers at UC San Diego Medical Center are collaborating with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) on the largest clinical trial of hypothermia (brain cooling) for stroke to date. Brain cooling has been shown to decrease brain swelling and reduce loss of neurologic function after an acute stroke. Named ?The Intravascular Cooling for Acute Stroke 2/3? (ICTus-2/3), this trial will look specifically at whether hypothermia improves patient outcomes after ischemic stroke. Set to begin later this spring, the three-and-a-half-year study will enroll 400 patients and is funded by two grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. A UC San Diego grant includes funding for 18 study sites, while a UTHealth grant will fund eight sites. Most of the sites are in the United States, but some are in Europe. 'Utilizing hypothermia in cardiac arrest patients to prevent blood shortage to the brain is already a proven practice, one discovered and refined at UCSD,' said Dr. Hemmen.