Grant: Project Grant

Some babies experience a condition called "birth asphyxia", where their brain and other organs do not receive enough blood and/or oxygen. This is a life-threatening condition that often causes permanent damage, including cerebral palsy and intellectual disability. Currently, therapeutic hypothermia (i.e., cooling the whole body of the baby at 33.5°C for 72 hours) is the only available treatment that may prevent these brain injuries and severe morbidities and has been the standard of care in Canada since the early 2010s. Nevertheless, many treated babies still develop brain damage and long-term neurodevelopmental deficits. These cohorts of children are only now entering into the elementary school-age years, so parents and clinicians are missing important information about their child's future during the elementary school-age years and after. It is of utmost importance that we understand how birth asphyxia translates into school-age deficits and suboptimal brain development so that we can plan for adequate follow-up evaluation and novel intervention. Our study will address this significant gap by characterizing the neuropsychological abilities and brain structure of 9-year-old children who suffered from birth asphyxia and who were treated with hypothermia after birth. This study will provide much-needed information to parents and clinicians so that they can advocate and plan for the specific health and educational needs these high-risk children have during the elementary school years and beyond.