Currently, the only available treatment for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), besides supportive care and therapy to mitigate the symptoms, is hypothermia therapy. This involves cooling a baby down to a below-normal temperature in order to allow the brain to recover from a hypoxic-ischemic injury and limit the spread of damage. Hypothermia therapy is known to reduce…
Brain cooling is a procedure that treats hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is a neonatal brain injury often caused by medical mistakes. Medical mistakes are a patient safety problem – they often can be prevented, but when proper care is not provided, patients are harmed. It is the duty of medical practitioners to prevent errors from occurring – if…
Hypothermia Cooling Therapy: Looking Back at the Standards of Care and Forwards to the Future While hypothermia cooling therapy (also know as therapeutic hypothermia or hypothermia treatment) is now the standard of care for treating newborns with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), this was not always the case. The practices of head cooling, whole-body cooling or…
A new research paper released in Pediatrics examines the impact of administering high-dose erythropoietin (EPO) in conjunction with hypothermia therapy (brain cooling) for babies with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The paper describes the result of Phase II clinical trials. Background: Hypothermia Therapy as the Standard of Care for Treating HIE The standard of care for…
Brain research is an ongoing process, and, at the moment, hypothermia therapy (using a cooling cap, cooling pad, or cooling blanket) is the standard of care when it comes to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Additive or supplemental measures in addition to hypothermia are still in preclinical or clinical trials, so it is too early to say…
Research Overview: Clinicians and birth injury experts have long known that administering prenatal steroids to premature infants hastens lung maturation and improves outcomes, but recent research has uncovered some additional benefits for this at-risk population. Dr. Henry Lee of Stanford University reports in the Journal of Perinatology (part of the prestigious Nature Publishing Group, which…
As a birth injury law firm, Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers seeks to support organizations that assist families impacted by birth injuries such as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). To mark HIE Awareness Month, we would like to spread the word about Hope for HIE, a notable HIE support group working to extend its reach…
HIE Awareness Month is April 2016! It’s important to ensure that those who suffered from HIE and birth injury obtain the resources and social support they need to thrive and achieve their goals. This is why the staff at Reiter & Walsh are throwing their weight behind Hope for HIE this month. Hope for HIE…
In our previous article, we discussed a recent study that found a connection between severity of seizures and neonatal severity of injury. At Reiter & Walsh, P.C., we have won many successful cases where severe birth injuries caused brain injuries that resulted in severe seizures and seizure disorders. As the study reiterated, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy…
According to the Journal of Patient Safety, preventable medical errors cause at least 210,000 deaths per year. Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in America, behind heart disease and cancer. Unfortunately, mistakes made in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) represent a significant part of those numbers. The Archives of Disease in…
