UCLA medical researchers report brain injury after cardiac arrest may be avoided

"New medical research shows it may be possible to avoid neurological injury that ordinarily follows unwitnessed cardiac arrest (a condition defined as a delay of at least 10 minutes before heart function is restored) and stroke. The findings have far reaching implications for the treatment of these conditions. The most recent data from the American Stroke Association and the American Heart Association indicate that stroke affects 780,000 Americans annually and results in 150,000 deaths. Sudden death affects an additional 450,000 people annually. The new study, 'Neurological Recovery 'Life after Death' following Total Brain Ischemia with Controlled Reperfusion,' was presented by Dr. Bradley S. Allen and his UCLA School of Medicine colleagues at the Resuscitation Satellite Symposium of the American Heart Association annual meeting in New Orleans this past weekend. The research included a blood conditioning process employing a leukocyte (white blood cell) reduction filter, the LeukoGuard BC Filter* from Pall Life Sciences, a business of Pall Corporation" - Business Wire