Arctic Sun: A “Cool” Treatment for Heart and Stroke Care

New technology dramatically lowers body temperature after a heart attack or stroke

When a serious heart attack stops the heart from sending oxygen to the brain, or a serious stroke causes swelling in the brain, the consequences can be life-threatening. To prevent brain damage and save lives, we are one of only six hospitals nationwide using body-cooling technology called Arctic Sun. It lowers the body’s core temperature to 91 degrees, slowing metabolism and preventing dangerous swelling. The result: saving lives by giving patients a better chance to heal.

Being Cool Saved His Life

Dramatically lowering body temperature after a heart attack

When Robert Kosharek left his Allentown home last January to pick up medicine from Walgreen’s Pharmacy at 17th and Tilghman streets, he didn’t return for two months.

Outside the pharmacy, Kosharek’s heart suddenly began quivering in a lethal rhythm. Then it stopped completely. He collapsed beside his car, his brain starving for oxygen, and lay there until a passerby discovered him and asked the store manager to call an ambulance. Paramedics used a defibrillator to restart Kosharek’s heart, then took him to Lehigh Valley Hospital.

The 70-year-old had slipped into a deep coma, and doctors feared a major, permanent brain injury. “That evening, we got a call from the hospital telling us to come in because Bob might not live,” says Kosharek’s wife, Mitzi.

Cardiologist Gerald Pytlewski, D.O., didn’t give up hope. He consulted neurologist John Castaldo, M.D., who recommended a procedure never done locally to treat a heart attack patient—cooling Kosharek’s body down enough to slow his metabolism, protect his brain and give it a chance to begin healing.

Castaldo used a new technology named Arctic Sun, a pump that drives cooled water through tubes in pads placed over the patient’s chest and abdomen. After the cooling period and over the next two days, Kosharek came out of the coma. “He could hear us when we asked him questions,” his wife says. “He moved his head yes or no. We started to cry.”

During his weeks in the hospital (five in total), Kosharek gradually began eating and whispering, then speaking. By spring, he was home from rehabilitation and back to his job as a court crier at the Lehigh County courthouse. (Kosharek is also the former WKAP radio announcer “Bob Grayson.”)

Today, he’s strong enough to trek up and down the courthouse’s seven floors. “Oh, I get a lot of exercise,” he says. “I’m 100 percent recovered. I’m grateful to my doctors for making such wise decisions and saving my life.