Little Finley Burton is a baby who has saved his life thanks to a cold therapy which has meant keeping him alive but in "hibernation" for four days to stabilize his heart.
The baby was born without complications but his condition was not normal, his mother realized that he was always exhausted and barely gained weight. The doctors, after several tests, discovered a serious malformation in his little heart, which was putting his life at serious risk.
Although the operation had gone well Finley suffered a very serious tachycardia, leading to his heart, due to the stress of the intervention, to beat very quickly. The way to stabilize it was to put it in "hibernation."
He remained at a low temperature, controlled by numerous medical equipment that monitored his vital signs. At 32 degrees his heart and all his metabolism slowed down without dying, and thus a fatal situation was avoided.
Subsequently, the temperature gradually increased until reaching a normal 37 degrees in a person, keeping the child hospitalized for 12 more days, but being able to discharge him in good condition afterwards.
I love reading science fiction novels and one of the ways in which the crews of starships face long journeys is this, the low temperature that preserves them at a vital rate so low that they barely age. At the moment that is still a dream, but cases like this baby's who has received cold therapy to save his life they make me think that one day we will see advances that we cannot even imagine today.
