The new therapy, called "Cool Babies," will be used in infants who have suffered neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy - a lack of oxygen to the brain - and other types of fetal distress during birth, said neonatologist and associate professor of pediatrics Ian Griffin, who is directing the effort.
He said that UC Davis Children's Hospital is the only hospital in central Northern California currently offering the therapy.
"This therapy has been studied extensively for several years, but during the past three or four years the evidence for its effectiveness has become much stronger," Griffin said. "When it is used, the number of survivors of brain injury goes up and the number of survivors with disabilities goes down."
Griffin said that the traditional course of treatment for infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy was essentially monitoring them closely and hoping for the best.
"Our previous treatment was just supportive," Griffin said. He said that it is believed that induced hypothermia works by slowing down the body's metabolism but it's not certain precisely how that benefits the infant brain.
Griffin said that studies published recently in the journal Pediatrics and in the New England Journal of Medicine both found that the use of whole-body induced hypothermia for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is safe and associated with a trend of reduced risk of death and disability.
He noted that advanced neonatal care has allowed doctors to prolong the lives of infants born with brain injuries. But many of those infants suffered mild-to-severe developmental delays. He said it is hoped that induced hypothermia will result in fewer infants with devastating lifelong disabilities.
Infants eligible for the therapy must be born at term -36 weeks or later - and exhibit symptoms of distress, such as having an Apgar score below five, being in an altered state of consciousness, e.g., lethargic, and requiring mechanical ventilation. The procedure must be started within the first six hours of life.
The therapy will involve placing infants on a specially designed blanket that is infused with cooled water in order to lower the babies' body temperatures to about six degrees below normal. The infants will remain on the cooling blankets for approximately three days before being slowly re-warmed.
UC Davis Children's Hospital operates the only level III neonatal intensive care unit in the Sacramento region, treating infants requiring the higest level of care. It is staffed by neonatologists 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
UC Davis Children's Hospital is the Sacramento region's only comprehensive hospital for children. From primary care offices to specialty and intensive care clinics, pediatric experts provide compassionate care to more than 100,000 children each year and conduct research on causes and improved treatments for conditions such as autism, asthma, obesity, cancer and birth defects. For more information, visit the www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/children.