Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Journal Club
  • Published:

Does whole-body hypothermia for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in preterm infants 33 to 35 weeks’ gestation reduce death or disability?

Journal of Perinatology (2026)Cite this article

Subjects

Faix RG, Laptook AR, Shankaran S, et al. Whole-Body Hypothermia for Neonatal Encephalopathy in Preterm Infants 33 to 35 Weeks’ Gestation: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. Published online February 24, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.6613

In infants 33–35 weeks’ gestation with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), does therapeutic hypothermia (TH) initiated within 6 hours of birth, compared to no therapeutic hypothermia, reduce death or moderate to severe disability at 18–22 months corrected age?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Data availability

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed for this journal club review.

References

  1. Faix RG, Laptook AR, Shankaran S, Eggleston B, Chowdhury D, Heyne RJ, et al. Whole-body hypothermia for neonatal encephalopathy in preterm infants 33 to 35 weeks’ gestation: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics. 2025;179:396–406.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Lee BL, Glass HC. Cognitive outcomes in late childhood and adolescence of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Clin Exp Pediatrics. 2021;64:608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Shankaran S, Laptook AR, Ehrenkranz RA, Tyson JE, McDonald SA, Donovan EF, et al. Whole-body hypothermia for neonates with hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy. N Engl J Med. 2005;353:1574–84.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhou WH, Cheng GQ, Shao XM, Liu XZ, Shan RB, Zhuang DY, et al. Selective head cooling with mild systemic hypothermia after neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: a multicenter randomized controlled trial in China. J Pediatrics. 2010;157:367–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Simbruner G, Mittal RA, Rohlmann F, Muche R. Neo. nEURO. network Trial Participants. Systemic hypothermia after neonatal encephalopathy: outcomes of neo. nEURO. network RCT. Pediatrics. 2010;126:e771–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Shipley L, Gale C, Sharkey D. Trends in the incidence and management of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy in the therapeutic hypothermia era: a national population study. Arch Dis Child-Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2021;106:529–34.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Berg M. Therapeutic hypothermia increased 66% from 2012 to 2021. Vermont Oxford Network. 2025.

  8. Papile LA, Baley JE, Benitz W, Cummings J, Waldemar CA, Eichenwald E, et al. Hypothermia and neonatal encephalopathy. Pediatrics. 2014;133:1146–50. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-0899.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Jacobs SE, Morley CJ, Inder TE, Stewart MJ, Smith KR, McNamara PJ, et al. Whole-body hypothermia for term and near-term newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2011;165:692–700. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Eicher DJ, Wagner CL, Katikaneni LP, Hulsey TC, Bass WT, Kaufman DA, et al. Moderate hypothermia in neonatal encephalopathy: efficacy outcomes. Pediatr Neurol. 2005;32:11–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Laptook A, Tyson J, Shankaran S, McDonald S, Ehrenkranz R, Fanaroff A, et al. Elevated temperature after hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: risk factor for adverse outcomes. Pediatrics. 2008;122:491–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Lilford RJ, Thornton JG, Braunholtz D. Clinical trials and rare diseases: a way out of a conundrum. Bmj. 1995;311:1621–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Wijeysundera DN, Austin PC, Hux JE, Beattie WS, Laupacis A. Bayesian statistical inference enhances the interpretation of contemporary randomized controlled trials. J Clin Epidemiol. 2009;62:13–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Yarnell CJ, Abrams D, Baldwin MR, Brodie D, Fan E, Ferguson ND, et al. Clinical trials in critical care: can a Bayesian approach enhance clinical and scientific decision making?. Lancet Respir Med. 2021;9:207–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Laptook AR, Shankaran S, Tyson JE, Munoz B, Bell EF, Goldberg RN, et al. Effect of therapeutic hypothermia initiated after 6 h of age on death or disability among newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: a randomized clinical trial. Jama. 2017;318:1550–60.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Journal Club is a collaboration between the American Academy of Pediatrics - Section of Neonatal Perinatal Medicine and the International Society for Evidence-Based Neonatology (EBNEO.org).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Newborn Services, Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s at Sunshine Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Noor Aljawahiri, Abdul Razak & Niranjan Thomas

  2. Department of Paediatrics, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Abdul Razak

  3. Monash Newborn, Monash Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Abdul Razak

  4. The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Abdul Razak

  5. Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Niranjan Thomas

Authors
  1. Noor Aljawahiri
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abdul Razak
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Niranjan Thomas
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Noor Aljawahiri: Conception and design of manuscript and drafting of the manuscript. Niranjan Thomas: Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content, supervision. Abdul Razak: Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content, supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Niranjan Thomas.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Aljawahiri, N., Razak, A. & Thomas, N. Does whole-body hypothermia for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in preterm infants 33 to 35 weeks’ gestation reduce death or disability?. J Perinatol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-026-02563-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-026-02563-7

Search

Advanced search

Quick links