Cooling time and recovery after pediatric cardiac arrest
Official title: 2/2 Pediatric Influence of Cooling duration on Efficacy in Cardiac Arrest Patients (P-ICECAP)
Funded at Medical University of South Carolina · NIH-11173870 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tests whether keeping children colder for longer after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest helps their brains recover better.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Medical University of South Carolina NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Charleston, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2021 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $691,377 |
| NIH project number | 5U24HL159132-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11173870 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children who are successfully resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and receive targeted temperature management at participating hospitals are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Children who are not resuscitated, who have unsurvivable brain injury, or for whom therapeutic cooling is not medically appropriate are unlikely to benefit from this effort.
What this research studies
If a child is resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, doctors will use therapeutic cooling and compare different cooling durations to see which leads to better recovery. The team will track survival and brain function using standard measures like the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Third Edition. Researchers will build a duration-response curve to identify an optimal 'dose' of cooling across a wide pediatric age range. The work is carried out at participating hospitals with clinical care and follow-up visits to measure outcomes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify the best cooling time to improve survival and neurological recovery in children after cardiac arrest.
How similar studies have gone: Targeted temperature management has been used in adults with mixed results and pediatric evidence is limited, so this builds on known approaches but addresses the unanswered question of optimal duration.
Where this research is happening
-
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Yeatts, Sharon Dziuba — Medical University of South Carolina
- Study coordinator: Yeatts, Sharon Dziuba
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Multi-center study on how ventilation during CPR relates to cardiac arrest outcomes
A large, real-world study will look at how ventilation during CPR affects survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in adults.
-
Specialized post-arrest care after cardiac arrest
A large, nationwide effort tests whether transferring cardiac arrest patients to a specialized post-arrest care center improves recovery compared with usual care.
-
Reduce bias in predicting brain recovery after cardiac arrest
This project aims to make brain-recovery predictions more accurate for people who survive cardiac arrest by comparing outcomes between the United States and Brazil.
-
Fairer brain recovery predictions after cardiac arrest through U.S.–Brazil collaboration
This project aims to find better ways to predict brain recovery for people who survive cardiac arrest but have possible brain injury.
-
Improving predictions of brain recovery after cardiac arrest
This project compares outcomes after cardiac arrest in the U.S. and Brazil to learn which tests best predict who will regain brain function for people who survive cardiac arrest.
-
Reducing biased predictions of brain recovery after cardiac arrest
This project looks at cardiac arrest survivors in the US and Brazil to find more accurate ways to predict brain recovery and avoid premature stopping of life support.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.