Heat wave in Italy and Hyperthermia syndrome

Abstract: In the city of Modena, Italy, daily temperatures registeredduring the year 2003 showed a higher mean increase of 3° C comparedwith the previous three years, with average temperature of26.1° C, compared with 22.8° C. The reported ambient temperaturewas higher than 32.3° C in 84% of the recorded days, and dailyvalues exceeded 35.1° C in 62% of the days. During the summer,four heat waves occurred (June 11–15, July 21–23, August 3–15 andAugust 17–24).Nine patients affected by hyperthermia syndrome with a mean bodytemperature of 41.4 1.3° C were admitted to the Intensive CareUnit (ICU) of the Modena Teaching Hospital. Another patient withsimilar clinical features was not admitted to ICU, but to a generalward, and eventually died a few hours later. Mortality reached 80%and the mean survival time was 4.2 days with median values of oneday. All patients except for one were admitted during one of the fourabove-mentioned heat waves, and in particular, 7 patients were admittedduring the period from August 3rd to 15th. A common featureamong 8 of the 10 patients was the chronic consumption of psychoactivedrugs.According to these observations, it is important to identify a populationat risk in case of bioclimatological alarm, to find preventionstrategies. It is extremely important in patients with hyperthermia tolower body temperature levels in the early hours to influence themalignant evolution of this severe pathologic process.