Long-term Follow-up After Head Cooling for Neonatal Encephalopathy

Previous studies have demonstrated that hypothermia for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in the neonatal period is generally safe and feasible, and can improve intermediate term survival without handicap. There is, however, no information on whether cooling improves longer term (school-age) outcomes in non-handicapped survivors. The current observational trial is designed to help obtain additional followup information on children who participated in the initial randomized clinical trial of head-cooling for neonatal encephalopathy. A first step is to collect information on the current status (at 7-8 years of age) of participants in the original study using a standardized telephone questionnaire. This will allow the investigators to more appropriately target children for whom further, more detailed, in-person neurodevelopmental testing would be appropriate. Given limited resources, identification of children for whom such testing would be helpful and instructive is a necessary goal.