Cryonics Institute Case Report for Patient Number 167

CI patient #167 was a 65 year old male from California.  The patient was a CI member at the time of his death.

The patient died unexpectedly at home. It was estimated that he died around 10 pm on Tuesday, March 27th, but he was found and pronounced around 10 am the next day, the 28th. He was brought to the medical examiner’s office and the coroner called us because the patient was wearing an emergency bracelet. The patient’s Objection to Autopsy form and signed next of kin documents were faxed to the medical examiner’s office to get the coroner to release the patient. They agreed to release the patient and to keep him in the refrigeration unit until the funeral home staff came to bring him to their facility. Once the funeral home had the patient in their care, the staff informed us that the soonest they could get the patient to us would be Monday, due to private circumstances. Because of this and the hours of warm ischemia between the patient’s death and discovery, it was decided that the patient would be straight frozen and the funeral home was provided with the dry ice guidelines. The necessary paperwork was obtained and the flight was made for the patient to arrive on Monday night, but the funeral home called to inform CI staff that the patient’s flight had to be changed and he would be on the red eye flight to arrive early on Tuesday morning. 

The patient arrived at the CI facility at 8:45 am on the 3rd of April, approximately six and a half days after death. 

The patient was then transferred to the computer controlled cooling chamber to cool to liquid nitrogen temperature.  The patient was then placed in a cryostat for long-term cryonic storage. 

Comments: The bracelet the patient was wearing proved to be helpful in notifying CI of an emergency. We were called before the next of kin because of it. When CI then tried to contact the funeral home that the patient had chosen ahead of time, it was discovered that the funeral home went out of business and we were referred to a different funeral home. This funeral home was not familiar with the patient or cryonics procedures. This is a good example of why it is important to keep in contact with the local funeral home, to make sure they are still in business and are still willing and able to help in an emergency.  See CI resources for more information on preplanning and standby.

Cryonics Institute Case Report for Patient Number 166

CI patient #166 was a 92 year old female from Toronto.  The patient was a CI member at the time of her death.

The patient died in the hospital and was pronounced at 8:58 pm on March 26, 2018. After pronouncement took place, bags of ice were applied to the patient’s head and neck by the contracted local standby personnel. The hospital would not allow any further standby procedures to be performed at the hospital. The family made arrangements ahead of time with a local funeral home, which came to take the patient to their funeral home for further cool down with ice. The standby personnel were able to administer Heparin, Sodium Citrate, and Maalox upon the patient’s arrival at the funeral home. The patient remained in ice and refrigeration while the necessary paperwork for the transportation was obtained. 

The patient arrived at the CI facility at 4:20 pm on March 28th, approximately 43 hours after death.  She was in a Ziegler case with a generous amount of ice. The nasal temperature upon her arrival was 3.3c. 

Hillary Martenson performed the perfusion. During the perfusion there were 3 liters of 10% Eg solution and 3 liters of 30% Eg solution used, and 16 liters of 70% VM1 solutions used.  The final refractive index of the effluents exiting the right jugular vein was 1.4138.  The final refractive index of the effluents exiting the left jugular vein was 1.4060. The average perfusion pressure was held at 105mm and metal cannulas were used. Flow rate started at 1.35 liters per minute and was reduced to 0.59 liters per minute by the end of the perfusion. The nasal temperature was 1.7c at the end of the perfusion. 

Cryonics Institute Case Report for Patient Number 165

CI patient #165 was a 59 year old female from Maryland.  The patient was a CI member at the time of her death.

The patient died at home, under hospice care, and was pronounced at 1:45 am on March 14, 2018. After pronouncement took place, her son and husband transferred her into a body bag and began the cool down with ice. They were well prepared with the basic standby kit and Zeigler case that they purchased from CI. An EMT assisted them in carrying her to the Ziegler case, which also serves as a portable ice bath, where they administered Heparin and Maalox, performed chest compressions, and covered her entire body with ice. The funeral home chosen by the family came prepared with extra ice to compensate for ice used up during the initial cool down. They then transferred her to the funeral home and worked quickly to obtain the paperwork needed for her transportation. 

The patient arrived at the CI facility at 10:30 pm, approximately 21 hours after death.  The patient was in the Ziegler case with a generous amount of ice and the Ziegler case was well insulated with both polystyrene insulation and fiberglass wool insulation. The nasal temperature upon her arrival was -1.2c, though there were no signs of surface freezing.  

Hillary Martenson performed the perfusion.  The perfusion was completed at 12:20 am.  During the perfusion there were 3 liters of 10% Eg solution and 6 liters of 30% Eg solution used, and 25 liters of 70% VM1 solutions used.  The final refractive index of the effluents exiting the right jugular vein was 1.4216.  The final refractive index of the effluents exiting the left jugular vein was 1.4216. The average perfusion pressure was held at 115mm and metal cannulas were used. Flow rate started at 1.69 liters per minute and was reduced to 1.46 liters per minute by the end of the perfusion. The nasal temperature was -9c at the end of the perfusion. 

There were no blood clots noted during the perfusion and there was good flow from both of the jugular veins. The entire body was perfused and dehydration along with bronzing of the skin was visible through the trunk, as well as in the arms and legs. Significant dehydration of the head and face was noted along with a bronzing of the skin. No edema was noted in the patient’s body or head, nor was any edema noted in the brain when observed through the burr hole in the patient’s skull. The perfusion of both the head and body was very successful. It was evident that the knowledge and effort put into the standby and stabilization done by the son and husband played a big role in the success of the perfusion. 

The patient was then transferred to the computer controlled cooling chamber to cool to liquid nitrogen temperature.  The human vitrification program was selected and the time needed to cool the patient to liquid nitrogen temperature was five days and 11 hours.  The patient was then placed in a cryostat for long-term cryonic storage.