Acoustics Provide Insight in the Neonatal Brain and Cerebral Perfusion

Abstract

The incidence of preterm birth is increasing. Preterm infants are all infants born before 37 weeks of gestation. The incidence of preterm birth in the Netherlands is 7.8% of all deliveries, with 1.4% very preterm infants (below 32 weeks of gestation). Advances in prenatal and neonatal care have led to increased survival of infants born preterm, however neonatal morbidity is still of concern. Preterm brain injury leads to problems of cognition, attention and behavior in 25-50% and to major motor problems (e.g. cerebral palsy) in 5-10% 7. Various lesions are the neuropathological substrate of this encephalopathy, including periventricular leucomalacia (PVL), germinal matrix hemorrhage/intraventricular hemorrhage and neuronal/axonal deficits of cerebral white matter, cerebellum and basal ganglia. The prevalence in the literature of PVL or neuronal/axonal deficits in preterm infants is 50% . During our study period 336 preterm infants below 29 weeks of gestation were admitted to Sophia’s Children’s hospital neonatal intensive care unit. Of these infants, 61 preterm infants died during the neonatal period and 157 infants developed apparent brain injury (documented with cranial ultrasound (CUS) or conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)). Data on long term neurodevelopmental outcome will follow in subsequent years.