[Sequelae secondary to heat-related illness].

Some patients with heatstroke suffer neurological sequelae. The incidence was 2.2 % in patients with heat-related illness in an analysis of the medical data from the Heatstroke STUDY 2006, the Heatstroke STUDY 2008 and the Heatstroke STUDY 2010, which were carried out by the Heatstroke Surveillance Committee of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM). Heatstroke patients who arrived at the hospital presenting with severe disturbance of consciousness, a higher body temperature or low BE values were more likely to experience central nervous system sequelae, and they were treated for a longer cooling time to achieve the target temperature. It is therefore important to provide aggressive cooling and intensive care as rapidly as possible in order to avoid the occurrence of the neurological sequelae of heatstroke.