Heat Stroke Prognosis

It is widely believed that heat stroke leads only rarely to permanent deficits and the convalescence is almost complete. American researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Centre followed 58 subjects chosen from more than 3,000 patients with heat-related conditions who were admitted to Chicago area hospitals between July 12 and July 20, 1995. All 58 subjects experienced symptoms of near-fatal heat stroke. Each was interviewed at the time of their discharge from the hospital, with a follow up interview scheduled one year later. Subjects ranged in age from 25 to 95, with the average age of the group being around 67. The study also recognized the fact that because of overcrowded conditions in all of the participating hospitals during this crisis, the immediate care – which is critical – was not as comprehensive as it should have been, underlining how important it is to quickly seek medical attention when the first signs occur.

However, in addition to the pre-hospital deaths, nearly half of the patients admitted to Chicago-area ICUs for heat stroke died within a year—21 percent before discharge and another 28 percent after release from the hospital. Many of the survivors suffered permanent loss of independent function; one-third had severe functional impairment at discharge, and none of them had improved after one year.