Therapeutic hypothermia after perinatal asphyxia in Vietnam: medium-term outcomes at 18 months - a prospective cohort study.

Aim: To determine neurodevelopmental outcome at 18 months after therapeutic hypothermia for hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) infants in Vietnam, a low-middle-income country.

Method: Prospective cohort study investigating outcomes at 18 months in severely asphyxiated outborn infants who underwent therapeutic hypothermia for HIE in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the time period 2016-2019. Survivors were examined at discharge and at 6 and 18 months by a neonatologist, a neurologist and a rehabilitation physician, who were blinded to the infants' clinical severity during hospitalisation using two assessment tools: the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE), to detect impairments and promote early interventions for those who require it.