Ice, Ice Baby

As a newborn, Edward Ives was ‘frozen’ by UK doctors to give him a fighting chance to save his life.

Baby in the hospital

As reported by The Telegraph, Edward Ives was born last August with a fatal heart condition called supra ventricular tachycardia (SVT), a condition that causes the heart to beat dangerously fast.

Edward ‘s little heart was pumping at a rate of over 300 beats per minute at the time of his birth. He was given a five percent chance of survival.

The doctors at University College London Hospital decided to try a pioneering treatment on the newborn in efforts to save his life. Doctors wrapped the baby in a blanket of cold gel so his core temperature dropped from 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees F) to 33.3 degrees C (91.94 degrees F) to slow metabolism and prevent damage to vital organs, essentially ‘freezing’ the baby’s body.

The medical team attempted to raise his temperature after the first two days, but since his heart rate rose they decided to chill him for two more days.

“It was horrible to see him lying there freezing in nothing but a nappy,” said mom Claire Ives, 29. She described her baby’s appearance as “cold to the touch” and said “it looked like he was dead.”

"All I wanted to do was scoop him up and give him a warm cuddle. I just had to keep reminding myself that it was saving his life."

As part of his treatment, Edward also received five shocks from a defibrillator to help regulate his heartbeat.

Luckily Edward’s heartbeat started reaching closer to normal levels by the fourth day and his temperature was gradually increased by one degree every 24 hours.

Edward was able to go home with his parents one month later and is now happily thriving as a six-month-old.

More news

UK mom breaks leg after going to hospital for false labor
"Gangnam style" baby raises car seat safety questions
Update: T-dap vaccine recommended for pregnant women

Tags: medical


More From SheKnows Explorer

Comments

UntomsEvosort May 03, 2013
A tooth (plural teeth) is a mignonne, calcified, whitish structure initiate in the jaws (or mouths) of multitudinous vertebrates and worn to ease up down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also take teeth repayment for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are covered nearby gums. Teeth are not made of bone, but fairly of multiple tissues of varying density and hardness.

The ordinary systematize of teeth is be like across the vertebrates, although there is sizeable converting in their show up and position. The teeth of mammals have profound roots, and this figure is also rest in some fish, and in crocodilians. In most teleost fish, regardless how, the teeth are fastened to the outer outwardly of the bone, while in lizards they are fixed devoted to to the inner side of the jaw during a man side. In cartilaginous fish, such as sharks, the teeth are unavailable beside tough ligaments to the hoops of cartilage that type the jaw.