With an availability of a single medical therapy, ischaemic stroke continues to be one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the World. Hence it is of paramount importance to find alternative therapies that can simultaneously affect various molecular mechanisms and demonstrate long term effects. Hypothermia has long been considered as a therapeutic option in preventing ischaemia-mediated brain damage and is already in place as an efficacious neuroprotective treatment regimen in neonatal hypoxic encephalopathy and in adults after cardiac arrest. However, before becoming an approved treatment for stroke, a comprehensive understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in its putative beneficial effects during or after ischaemic cerebral damage is needed. Furthermore, strong evidence on the optimal conditions in that hypothermic therapy may be administered and a thorough understanding of the associated potential complications are also required. This review paper initially discusses the optimal conditions in which hypothermic therapy may be safely applied before pointing out the systematic complications that may emerge from this treatment.

Globally, stroke continues to be one of the leading causes of mortality and accounts for nearly 12% of total deaths every year. It constitutes the leading cause of long term disability with up to 40% of stroke sufferers not recovering their independence and is one of the leading causes of disease burden when measured in disability adjusted life years. Stroke also continues to be one of the most expensive conditions in that it costs National Health System £9 billion per annum in the UK alone

There are two main types of stroke; ischaemic and haemorrhagic. The former constitutes about 85% of all strokes and can be further divided into two main subtypes; thrombotic and embolic strokes. Thrombotic strokes occur when a thrombus, formed in an atherosclerotic artery, occludes the blood flow to the distal part of this artery. This is usually preceded by a transient ischaemic attack or mini-stroke. Embolic ischaemic strokes, on the other hand, usually arise when a blood clot breaks loose (embolus) and travels to a part of the cerebral vasculature that is too small to let it pass thereby significantly minimising or blocking the blood supply to the brain region supplied by this artery. In most cases the root-cause is cardioembolic

With Regards,
Ch. sirisha
Associate Managing Director