The publication of several major randomized controlled trials and a meta-analysis of all available data have at last shown that reducing body temperature in infants with perinatal asphyxia reduces death and disability and increases the chance of normal survival, at least to 2 years of age. Although we are awaiting publication of 6-year follow-up data from the major trials, there is every reason to believe that these beneficial effects of treatment will persist, not in the least because large magnetic resonance imaging datasets have shown significantly less structural brain damage in cooled infants. The treatment is cost- effective in developed health economies, and many countries either have, or are in the process of developing, implementation packages for this new treatment.
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