The 2nd International Symposium for Hyperbaric Oxygenation was a huge success as far as attendance and participation was concerned. Physicians and patients from around the world came together in Florida to share clinical experiences with research information. This was a well attended meeting with a very diverse list of US and foreign speakers. More than a dozen countries were represented, all supporting a common finding that is being reinforced around the globe; low pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy is having positive effects on various types of brain injury. While we would all like to see more solid (reproducible) evidence to help cement the use of HBOT, time should not be wasted when a therapy with an extremely low incidence of side effects (rare and non-lasting) is available. HBOT is supported with more than a preponderance of anecdotal and scientific evidence and has a low risk/high benefit ratio. We are proud to present Dr. Neubauer’s pearls from the symposium and look forward to more stimulating meetings and advances in the field.
Daniel Lacey, M.D., USA

What is Cerebral Palsy and its many causes?

Dr. Lacey spoke on cerebral palsy being an umbrella catch-all type of terminology for any child under the age of twelve; pre-natal, time of delivery, post-natal, infection, traumatic, and genetic all fall into the category of cerebral palsy.

P. B. James, M.D., United Kingdom

A Common Denominator in Cerebral Palsy and the Brain-Injured Child – Oxygen Deficiency

Dr. James spoke on the abnormalities of the blood brain barrier in the injured child and the reparative effects of hyperbaric oxygenation and the fact that there are now up to 110 centers with hyperbaric oxygenation chambers in the United Kingdom that are treating, not only multiple sclerosis but also children with cerebral palsy.

Tragic Mistake of Retinopathy of the Premature Infant

Dr. James also spoke on the tragic mistake of retinopathy in the newborn. A horrendous mistake was made for about fifty years that suggested surface oxygen for the preemie caused retrolental fibroplasia. This has been totally disproved as it was the withdrawal too soon and putting the babies back into the oxygen cured the problem. Since this tragic mistake has been universal, the incidence of cerebral palsy has skyrocketed.

William Maxfield, M.D., USA

Timely Diagnosis: SPECT Scans / MR Spectroscopy / Ultrasound / Transcranial Doppler

Dr. Maxfield spoke on MR spectroscopy, functional MRI, ultrasound, transcranial Doppler stressing the need for immediate diagnosis, even in utero. Dr. Maxfield also evaluated hyperbaric oxygen therapy in cancer care. He pointed out that the great value of hyperbaric oxygenation in treating extravasation of chemotherapy agents into tissue, which significantly decreases the morbidity. Dr. Maxfield has treated many cancer patients with hyperbaric oxygenation before radiation therapy. He notes that in a report from Japan, hyperbaric oxygenation therapy given immediately prior to radiation therapy for brain tumor showed a 50 percent increase in survival for the patients. He stated that the rumor that hyperbaric oxygenation might stimulate cancer growth is entirely unfounded and feels that there is a significant need to expand the use of hyperbaric oxygenation in the field of cancer care.

Michael Uszler, M.D., USA

The Utility of Brain SPECT Imaging Associated with HBOT in Childhood and Adult Neurological Disorders.

Dr. Uszler spoke on the importance of documentation with hyperbaric oxygenation and the potential of co-registration with anatomic measurements on MRI. Dr. Uszler has reviewed hundreds of scans, pre and post HBOT and is a firm advocate of this therapy.

Pierre Marois, M.D., & Michel Vanasse, M.D., Canada

HBOT for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Multicenter Placebo Controlled Randomized Clinical Trial

This Clinical Trial demonstrated clearly that the more beneficial effects in the more serious children occurred with the use of hyperbaric oxygenation. Increased atmospheric pressure of 1.35 air, however, did benefit many of the children so thus there was not a statistical difference between the two arms of the study. This is a fortuitous observation in that there are hundreds of thousands of children around the world who could never get to a hyperbaric chamber may now be treated with compressed air (a technique with much age) and clinical documentation.

Paul Harch, M.D., USA

The Dose of Hyperbaric Oxygenation

Dr. Harch had unusual findings with the dose of hyperbaric oxygenation stating that after forty exposures at low pressure of 1.5 ATA certain of his patients noticed either irrational behavior or fatigue and he related this to oxygen toxicity and suggested a protocol of forty treatments at which time the patient should be given a break and then begin with lesser numbers. *

M. Packard, M.D., USA

Evidence Based Research at New York University

Dr. Packard stated that the excellent results obtained in the study done at New York Presbyterian Hospital stressed the need for further treatment. Dr. Packard is a pediatric neurologist and was the main investigator of this study. She also produced the protocol and the scales for evaluation. Her studies suggest highly positive results, but being a true scientist, she spoke again on Saturday morning suggesting the need for further documentation with controlled studies.