Seasonal variability and influence of outdoor temperature on body temperature of cardiac arrest victims

Aim of the studyMild therapeutic hypothermia is a major advance in post-resuscitation-care. Some questions remain unclear regarding the time to initiate cooling and the time to achieve target temperature below 34 °C. We examined whether seasonal variability of outside temperature influences the body temperature of cardiac arrest victims, and if this might have an effect on outcome.MethodsPatients with witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests were enrolled retrospectively. Temperature variables from 4 climatic stations in Vienna were provided from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics. Depending on the outside temperature at the scene the study participants were assigned to a seasonal group. To compare the seasonal groups a Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U test was performed as appropriate.ResultsOf 134 patients, 61 suffered their cardiac arrest during winter, with an outside temperature below 10 °C; in 39 patients the event occurred during summer, with an outside temperature above 20 °C. Comparing the tympanic temperature recorded at hospital admission, the median of 36 °C (IQR 35.3-36.3) during summer differed significantly to winter with a median of 34.9 °C (IQR 34-35.6) (p < 0.05). This seasonal alterations in core body temperature had no impact on the time-to-target-temperature, survival rate or neurologic recovery.ConclusionThe seasonal variability of outside temperature influences body temperature of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims.