ShareInfants with brain damage benefit from cooling
Doctors at the UC Davis Medical Center have been using a cooling technique to help children born with brain damage. Instead of being placed in blankets after birth, the infants are being cooled in order to prevent further brain damage from occurring.
Doctors at the UC Davis Medical Center have been using a cooling technique to help children born with brain damage. Instead of being placed in blankets after birth, the infants are being cooled in order to prevent further brain damage from occurring.
The founder of the infant cooling programme called “Cool Babies” is Ian Griffin, associate professor in the department of neonatology at UC Davis. “We look for babies that are depressed at birth; babies that are not interactive and don’t move much at birth,” Griffin said. One of the most important effects of the cooling programme is that it helps prevent the second wave of brain damage that occurs after birth. According to Griffin, the second wave of damage is propelled by the residual effects of the first wave. The first wave of cells die due to lack of oxygen and build up of waste material; in the second wave, other cells die as a result of toxic compounds released from the cells that died in the first wave.
Infants need to be put in the cooling programme within 6 hours of birth. The infants are placed on a cooling mattress and stay cooled for 72 hours at temperatures ranging from 33 to 37°C, and are then re-warmed over a period of 12 hours. Typically, the infants spend 14 to 16 days in hospital, and are neurologically monitored. According to Griffin, around half of the babies will survive without significant handicap with cooling, whereas without cooling, only about one-third of the babies will survive without significant handicap.
Fifty-eight babies have been cooled since the programme started in June 2009, and other units and countries are showing interest in the programme. According to the World Health Organization, birth asphyxia — which it defines as the failure to establish breathing at birth — causes an estimated 900 000 infant deaths annually. Birth asphyxia is one of the main causes of lasting neurological damage in babies; and it is hoped that the infant cooling programme will avoid significant mental handicap in many babies.
The founder of the infant cooling programme called “Cool Babies” is Ian Griffin, associate professor in the department of neonatology at UC Davis. “We look for babies that are depressed at birth; babies that are not interactive and don’t move much at birth,” Griffin said. One of the most important effects of the cooling programme is that it helps prevent the second wave of brain damage that occurs after birth. According to Griffin, the second wave of damage is propelled by the residual effects of the first wave. The first wave of cells die due to lack of oxygen and build up of waste material; in the second wave, other cells die as a result of toxic compounds released from the cells that died in the first wave.
Infants need to be put in the cooling programme within 6 hours of birth. The infants are placed on a cooling mattress and stay cooled for 72 hours at temperatures ranging from 33 to 37°C, and are then re-warmed over a period of 12 hours. Typically, the infants spend 14 to 16 days in hospital, and are neurologically monitored. According to Griffin, around half of the babies will survive without significant handicap with cooling, whereas without cooling, only about one-third of the babies will survive without significant handicap.
Fifty-eight babies have been cooled since the programme started in June 2009, and other units and countries are showing interest in the programme. According to the World Health Organization, birth asphyxia — which it defines as the failure to establish breathing at birth — causes an estimated 900 000 infant deaths annually. Birth asphyxia is one of the main causes of lasting neurological damage in babies; and it is hoped that the infant cooling programme will avoid significant mental handicap in many babies.