X-Message-Number: 4538 Date: Thu, 22 Jun 95 19:33:37 From: Steve Bridge <> Subject: Alcor's Latest Suspension To CryoNet >From Steve Bridge, Alcor Foundation June 22, 1995 Alcor performed a whole body suspension on June 13th. Anatol ("Andy") Epstein was a 66 year old male history professor from New York City. He had been a suspension member less than one year. While none of us at Alcor had met Andy in person, we had enjoyed our telephone conversations immensely. He was a kind and literate man, with a loving, supportive family. We were aware that Andy had been battling brain cancer; but we did not know that he was currently hospitalized with pneumonia. Alcor received less than an hour's notice of the situation before clinical death, which was about 10:00 p.m. in New York (7:00 p.m. in Phoenix) on the 12th. This precluded a prompt field washout, since our Scottsdale team could not have arrived in New York until late the next morning, several hours after the first morning flight from New York to Phoenix. This was also too late for the back-up washout solution to be flown in from Ft. Lauderdale. However, thanks to some exceptional assistance from hospital personnel, our cooperating New York mortician, and two transport-trained volunteers, the suspension proceeded as well as could be expected in such a situation. The hospital staff packed the patient in ice, administered heparin, sodium bicarbonate, and Maalox, and the physician on duty performed closed-chest compressions for 15 minutes to circulate the drugs. The mortician quickly picked up the patient and, with the assistance of Gerry Arthus and Curtis Henderson, packed the patient in water ice for shipment to Phoenix via the first America West flight on the 13th. (America West's overnight cargo crew in Phoenix was again extremely helpful in setting up the shipment.) By the time the patient arrived at Alcor's Scottsdale facility at 11:15 a.m. (Phoenix time), his temperature was about 4 degrees C. The suspension team was prepared, and cardiac surgery proceeded rapidly. The glycerol perfusion went very smoothly and no clots were visible during the procedure. Cryoprotective perfusion was completed at 4:10 p.m. and the patient was placed into the dry ice bath at approximately 6:00 p.m. We achieved a very high glycerol concentration of approximately 7 molar (measured in effluent from the brain burrhole). This is excellent under any circumstances and is extraordinary in a no-washout situation after approximately 18 hours of (chilled) ischemia. It is obvious that the hospital intervention provided an immense benefit to the patient. We are grateful to the hospital staff, Curtis and Gerry, and the mortician for all of the extra work they did. Alcor now has 29 suspension patients, 11 whole body and 18 neuro. A full suspension report will be published in CRYONICS in a future issue. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=4538