It remains unclear whether mild
hypothermia affects energy metabolism in the brain tissue of newborns with hypoxic-ischaemic
encephalopathy (HIE). The current study aimed to investigate the effect of mild
hypothermia on energy metabolism in neonatal HIE and assess brain energy metabolism using position emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanning. The mean standardised uptake values of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) were used to determine the
glucose metabolic rate in various brain anatomical regions, including the thalamus, basal ganglia and the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes. The rate of
glucose metabolism significantly improved following treatment with mild
hypothermia therapy and conventional
therapy (P<0.001). Prior to the treatment, no significant differences were identified between the groups (P>0.05). Following treatment, the rate of
glucose metabolism was significantly improved in the mild
hypothermia therapy group compared with that in the conventional therapy group (P<0.001). Thus, these results indicate that mild
hypothermia therapy effectively promotes the recovery of patients with neonatal HIE.
18F-FDG PET/CT scanning may be used to provide reference values for the assessment of energetic metabolism in patients with neonatal HIE.