Scott & White Memorial Hospital “Cooling” NICU Babies with Hypothermia Treatment, First in Central Texas

TEMPLE, Texas — Scott & White Memorial Hospital’s multi-disciplinary NICU team is the first in Central Texas to utilize a hypothermia program, or, “cooling” treatment on newborns including both the cap and blanket devices. Babies who may suffer from such conditions as asphyxia in the womb, which leave them without oxygen, could benefit from such a treatment if the proper team is in place and technology is available to respond within a critical six-hour window.

“Saving a baby’s life who is affected by asphyxia or hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy that warrants ‘cooling’ requires the proper equipment and Scott & White’s highly-skilled, multi-disciplinary team in order to act quickly to implement hypothermia treatment,” explains Dr. Cheryl Cipriani, Section Head of Neonatology at Scott & White. “Without “cooling,” babies can suffer from conditions such as brain swelling and brain cell death resulting in long-term brain injury.”

“Babies who receive ‘cooling’ treatments are typically moved to Scott& White’s Level III NICU, where the staff places them on a cooling blanket or cap. Scott & White is the first to use both devices in Texas. Treatment must be administered within a six-hour window or the baby will not benefit,” explains Dr. Cipriani.

Dr. Cipriani explains how hypothermia therapy helps infants, “If a baby is not cooled within six hours, additional brain cells will die from the initial lack of oxygen that occurs during asphyxiation. Cooling stops the process that results in cell death.” Hypothermia places patients into a state of near- hibernation, cooling them down to a temperature of 33-33.5 degree Celsius for 72 hours.

Other leading medical centers in the U.S. have used “cooling” on newborns. Over 1,000 children worldwide have been cooled with positive effects. Hypothermia programs are closely watched by neonatal medical societies who expect high standards of performance, data management, and patient follow-up in the facilities providing this care.

“At Scott & White, ‘cooling’ babies is our standard of care for birth asphyxia,” explains Dr. Cipriani. “We also accept appropriate cases from regional hospitals that don’t have hypothermia capabilities by enabling them to start the cooling process at their facility until the specially-trained Scott & White team can transport the infant.”

Cipriani goes on to explain that “there wasn’t much doctors could do for babies with brain insult beforehand that made significant improvement, but now about 30% more children who’ve suffered a significant brain insult are normal following brain cooling.”

Scott & White Memorial Hospital has the most comprehensive cooling program in the state of Texas. Additionally, the “cooling” technology at Scott & White has been made possible through generous donors: Scott & White Auxiliary funded the “cooling” cap, and the “cooling” blanket was funded through the Dan Kirkland Wells Foundation.

As a Level III NICU, the highest level of this special care is available here. Scott & White’s NICU measures in the top percentiles in the world for helping desperately ill babies survive, and hopefully thrive. For over 25 years, Scott & White has been providing specialized care for sick newborns—both full-term and premature—in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Scott & White Memorial Hospital is also the only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between Dallas and Austin.

Additionally, Scott & White is one of only a handful of institutions in Texas providing NICU transport. While some full-term babies are sent to the NICU, the majority of those seen by the neonatologists are premature, and their risks vary depending on weight and condition at birth. One of the keys to the higher survival rates at the Children’s Hospital at Scott & White is involvement from the other pediatric subspecialties here such as pulmonologists, ophthalmologists, neurologists, surgeons and radiologists. On average, the NICU handles about 40 to 50 babies at any given time. Patients in the NICU receive 24-hour medical care, and the average stay for extremely premature infants is about three months. Physicians and nurses also give special attention to parents of sick infants, educating them on how to care for their new babies, and what to expect as their child grows and develops.

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