Neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is caused by poor oxygen delivery to the brain around the time of birth (perinatal asphyxia). Worldwide, perinatal asphyxia causes 23% of all newborn deaths; in the UK there were 835 newborns with HIE in 2015. It carries a high risk for brain injury and neurodevelopmental impairment in surviving infants. Therapeutic hypothermia, or “cooling”, reduces death and neurodisability, and is now standard treatment. Nevertheless, of those who survive, about 14% develop Cerebral Palsy (CP), and up to 60% of those without CP have neurodevelopmental problems. For this group little is known on school progress, social functioning, and quality of life; knowledge is missing about long term brain development after HIE; and information is lacking about how routine assessments of brain injury with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the newborn period and assessments in infancy can predict school age outcomes.
The neuroimaging data of NENAH study are collected on a Siemens Skyra 3 Tesla MRI scanner (Erlangen, Germany). There are conventional MRI sequences to obtain the size, shape, and structure of brain tissues, including:
Additionally, there are advanced MRI sequences involved, including:
The total scanning time is about 50 minutes.
Only one parent is allowed to enter the MRI room to accompany the participants, although both are welcome to visit the hospital. When one is in the scanner room, the other may stay in the waiting room area or visit our cafeteria.
Note: It is important that you follow our hospital's latest visitor guideline for COVID-19, which is available here.
Yes, a research report will be prepared for each participant. However, this will be done after all assessments are completed and usually take a couple of months. The report is quite detailed and will explain all areas and assessments we have conducted.
For children who had a previous scan, the new scan will be compared with the previous one. In addition, we can provide a copy of the brain scan upon request, but you will need to provide a DVD because this isn’t what NHS can offer.
The children can either choose music or watch a movie, whatever they prefer. We have access to Disney+, YouTube, and BBC iPlayer.