August 18, 2018

A-1377, a confidential whole body member, was pronounced on June 17, 2018 in Raleigh, North Carolina. He became Alcor’s 158th patient on June 18.

On Saturday, June 17, 2018, a TeleMed alert was sent out at 13:31 hrs stating that confidential Alcor member A-1377 was close to death. A decision was made by the Alcor Deployment Committee to have Suspended Animation (SA) deploy for standby. A flight was booked to depart that night at 22:30 hrs which would arrive at the destination on the following morning at 06:15 hrs.

This 49-year-old member had developed esophageal cancer several years earlier which had progressed to stage IV despite an esophagectomy, radiation therapy, and several courses of chemotherapy.

At the time of this case, the member had been in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with presumed aspiration pneumonia and sepsis and had deteriorated despite therapy to the point that he had required high-dose vasopressor support and mechanical ventilation.

Based on the member’s condition, the family elected to withdraw support as soon as SA was on site and ready. When the member was pronounced, SA performed the stabilization protocol and then transferred the patient to a local funeral home for the washout procedure. The perfusion was completed at 19:31 hrs and preparations for transport were begun.

The patient arrived at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, AZ at 15:06 hrs on the morning of June 19, 2018, and SA met with Alcor staff at 16:13 hrs for the patient handoff.

Outcome: There was a small isotherm in the brain in the cooldown data at approximately -10°C. This is an indication of some ice formation. A concentration of 40 Brix in the perfusate could not be attained. This is reflected in the isotherm in the cooldown curve. Very little retraction of the brain was seen in the burr holes, which indicates incomplete cryoprotection. The left eye was partially collapsed while the right eye was not, indicating uneven vascular access. There was extensive skin mottling overall on the body and strong darkening of the skin of the head. This indicates that the skin was perfused.