Objectives: To examine whether using an amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) severity pattern as an entry criterion for therapeutic hypothermia better selects infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and to assess the time-to-normal trace for aEEG and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesion load as 24-month outcome predictors.
Study Design: Forty-seven infants meeting Norwegian therapeutic hypothermia guidelines were enrolled prospectively. Eight-channel EEG/aEEG was recorded from 6 hours until after rewarming, and read after discharge.
Aim: The optimal timing of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in encephalopathic infants treated with hypothermia is unknown, and this study examined whether early scans differed from later scans.
Methods: We assessed paired MRI scans carried out on 41 cooled encephalopathic infants at a median of four and 11 days using two scoring systems: the Rutherford injury scores for the basal ganglia and thalami (BGT), white matter and the posterior limb of the internal capsule, and the Bonifacio injury scores for the BGT and watershed area.
Results: Both systems produced consistent injury severity scores in 37 of 41 infants on both days, with Rutherford scores predicting poor outcome in six early scans and seven later scans (K = 0.
Background: Therapeutic hypothermia has become standard treatment for moderate and severe neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) to reduce cerebral morbidity and mortality. The effect on the heart is incompletely explored.
Aim: To assess the myocardial function during and after whole-body therapeutic hypothermia for HIE.