RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Influence of timing of initiation of therapeutic hypothermia on brain MRI and neurodevelopment at 18 months in infants with HIE: a retrospective cohort study JF BMJ Paediatrics Open JO BMJ Paediatrics Open FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP e000442 DO 10.1136/bmjpo-2019-000442 VO 3 IS 1 A1 Mireille Guillot A1 Marissa Philippe A1 Elka Miller A1 Jorge Davila A1 Nicholas James Barrowman A1 Mary-Ann Harrison A1 Nadya Ben Fadel A1 Stephanie Redpath A1 Brigitte Lemyre YR 2019 UL http://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000442.abstract AB Objective To examine the influence of timing of initiation of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) on brain injury on MRI and on neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 months.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting Tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in Ontario, Canada.Patients Ninety-one patients with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) were included, 54 in the early TH group and 37 in the late TH group.Intervention Whole-body hypothermia administered for 72 hours, initiated either before 3 hours of life (early TH) or between 3 and 6 hours of life (late TH).Main outcome measures Brain injury on MRI after TH (assessed by two neuroradiologists), and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 months old.Results TH was initiated at a median time of 1.4 hours (early TH) and 4.4 hours (late TH). Sixty-four neonates (early TH=36, late TH=28) survived and completed neurodevelopmental assessment at 18 months. Neonates in the early TH group received more extensive resuscitation than neonates in the late TH group (p=0.0008). No difference was observed between the two groups in the pattern or severity of brain injury on MRI, or in the neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 months. The non-survivors (n=16) had lower Apgar scores at 10 min, more extensive resuscitation, suffered from more severe HIE and had significantly more abnormal cerebral function monitoring.Conclusion In this retrospective cohort study, TH initiated early was associated neither with a difference in brain injury on MRI nor better neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 months.