US doctors reverse brain damage in drowned toddler
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/us-doctors-reverse-brain-damage-in-drowned-toddler-4763583/
Excerpt:
Doctors in the US have successfully reversed brain damage in a two-year-old who became unresponsive to all stimuli after a drowning accident. The girl experienced cardiac arrest after a cold water drowning accident in a swimming pool. After resuscitation at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in the US, MRI revealed deep brain injury as well as grey and white matter loss.
She had no speech, gait or responsiveness to commands, and was constantly squirming and shaking her head. Since hyperbaric oxygen therapy was not available in the patient’s location, doctors at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in the US began a bridging treatment to prevent permanent tissue degeneration until they could get the patient to a hyperbaric treatment center.
Fifty-five days post-drowning, they began short duration treatment with 100 per cent normobaric oxygen for 45 minutes twice a day through a nasal cannula. The girl became more alert, awake and stopped squirming, doctors said.
Her rate of neurological improvement increased amd she started laughing, increased movement of arms, hands, and taking some food orally. She also showed pre-drowning speech level, but with diminished vocabulary.
The patient and family then traveled to New Orleans 78 days after drowning, where doctors began treating her with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). She “dove” in a hyperbaric chamber for 45 minutes a day, five days a week for 40 sessions.
“At the beginning of each session, the patient showed visually apparent and/or physical examination-documented neurological improvement,” doctors said.
