A 75 year old man was found unconscious in his bath. He had had a coronary bypass operation and pacemaker implanted because of syncope with bradyarrhythmia, and, more recently, prostate carcinoma with bone metastases had been diagnosed, for which he was being treated with antiandrogens. Examination revealed an unresponsive patient with a Glasgow coma score of 1-1-1, a rectal body temperature of 41.6°C, a blood pressure of 60/30 mm Hg, a heart rate of 60 beats/min, and a respiratory rate of 20 breaths/min. Biochemical and cardiological investigations did not identify the cause of coma, and the results from a cerebral computed tomography were normal. After the patient had been fully undressed and given saline infusions, his body temperature dropped to 38°C, and his Glasgow coma score became normal within 30 minutes.
At this point his wife told us that her husband had recently been searching the internet for possible treatments for his carcinoma. He had come across information on cooled thermotherapy (TUMT, transurethral microwave thermotherapy) for benign prostate hyperplasia and on hyperthermia treatment for malignant diseases such as melanoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and metastasised breast and colorectal carcinoma.
On the basis that such treatment would help him, he designed and made a hyperthermia system from spare parts at home. He fitted a large industrial garbage container with the heating element of an old electric frying pan as well as a garden pond pump for circulation. He took hot baths in this device for two hours every other day. All went well until the day of admission, when the water overheated and he lost consciousness.
He was discharged, well, after two days, insisting that he had devised an excellent system apart from forgetting to install a thermostat.