Objective: To assess predictive value of blood lactate measurements in infants during therapeutic hypothermia due to moderate to severe asphyxia in relation to early outcome. Patients and methods: We retrospectively evaluated records of 47 full-term newborns that underwent therapeutic hypothermia after moderate to severe perinatal asphyxia from January 2011 to December 2015. Criteria for whole body cooling were established according to Bristol Cooling Protocol UK, including clinical signs of HIE using Sarnat&Sarnat scale and aEEG. Blood samples were taken from venous catheter in recommended intervals (3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 hours). Early outcome is evaluated on the base of survival rate, neurologic status at discharge and presence of post hypoxic lesions confirmed with brain MRI. All investigated infants were categorized into 3 groups 1) Infants with normal brain MRI finding and normal neurologic examination at the discharge; 2) Infants with abnormal brain MRI finding at the discharge (with 2 subgroups depending of neurological status at the discharge); 3) Newborns with lethal outcome. Results: Mean value of blood lactate at admission for all subjects was 11.87 ± 5.41 (3.224.0), without statistical difference between groups. Three hours after beginning of cooling mean value was 8.36 ± 3.70 (2.2-17.0) with statistical difference between all groups of survived infants compared to infants who died. After 6 and 12 hours mean values were 6.311 ± 3.69 and 6.269 ± 3.37 respectively with statistical difference between neurologically asymptomatic infants (including those with MRI finding interpreted as a mild lesion) compared to infants with abnormal neurological examination at the discharge and infants who died. Values of blood lactate after 24h, 48h and 72 h were 4.46 ± 2.00 (1.0–11.7), 3.60 ± 1.36 (1.6–6.9), 3.36 ± 1.93 (1.29.3) respectively. After 24 h we did not find statistical difference between groups. Conclusion: Serial measurements of blood lactate during therapeutic hypothermia in asphyxiated infants are important. Initial value of lactate is not proved to be predictive, but prompt decreasing of lactate values within 24 hours of cooling is associated with better early outcome. *Correspondence to: Suada Heljić, MD, PhD, NICU, Pediatric Clinic, Clinical University Center Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tel: +387 61 865 285 (M), +38733566439 (W); E-mail: heljicsuada@hotmail.com

Studies are supporting neuroprotective benefi t of therapeutic hypothermia in term newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.We assessed survival and neurodevelopmental outcome of neonates subjected to the procedure and factors that may haveinfl uenced it. Newborns with gestational age of more than 36 weeks and less than 6 hours of age with moderate to severe asphyxialencephalopathy underwent cooling protocol at a temperature of 33.5 °C for 72 hours and rewarming period of 6 hours. The outcomemeasures assessed were death and neurodevelopmental characteristics. Twenty-fi ve children were assessed during the period fromOctober 2010 to October 2013. Median gestational age was 40 weeks, birth weight 3470 g, Apgar score 2/4 and pH on admission tothe hospital 7.02. Four (16%) children died and two were lost for follow up. At the age of fi nal assessment, developmental categoriesof communication were normal in 68.4%, problem solving in 73.7%, personal-social in 68.4%, gross motor in 57.9%, and fi ne motorin 36.8% but with a high need of retesting in this area. Seven of 19 patients (36.8%) had completely normal results for all fi ve categories,while three (15.8%) had abnormal results for all categories. None of the 18 parameters that were correlated with neurodevelopmentaloutcome showed statistical signifi cance. Amplitude integrated electroencephalography was done in ten patients and themost prominent fi nding was discontinuous activity in eight patients. In conclusion, a relatively small number of patients and limitationsof this study design precluded any far-reaching conclusions, but we think that this method can provide better survival and lessneurologic sequels in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy patients.