The systematic review of randomized controlled trials by Tagin et al in this issue of the Archives1 confirms therapeutic hypothermia, or cooling, as a major advance for infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The evidence, achieved during 2 decades of international collaboration, reflects great credit on the neonatal community, parents, researchers, funding agencies, and providers of health care.
Many questions about cooling remain to be answered, such as whether xenon and erythropoietin are indicated, and the role of cooling in mild HIE. Could future research be enhanced by greater efforts to represent the perspectives of parents? In 2007, a Cochrane review of cooling2 included a plain language summary: