• David Straus, Vinay Prasad, and Lorenzo Munoz.
• Department of Neurological Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. davidstraus@gmail.com
• Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2011 Dec 1;69(6):981-7.

ObjectiveTherapeutic hypothermia is a promising treatment to prevent secondary neurologic injury. Clinical utility is limited by systemic complications of global hypothermia. Selective brain cooling remains a largely uninvestigated application. We review techniques of inducing selective brain cooling.MethodLiterature review.ResultsStrategies of inducing selective brain cooling were divided between non-invasive and invasive techniques. Non-invasive techniques were surface cooling and cooling via the upper airway. Invasive cooling methods include transvascular and compartmental (epidural, subdural, subarachnoid and intraventricular) cooling methods to remove heat from the brain.ConclusionSelective brain cooling may offer the best strategy for achieving hypothermic neuroprotection. Non-invasive strategies have proven disappointing in human trials. There is a paucity of human experiments using invasive methods of selective brain cooling. Further application of invasive cooling strategies is needed.

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