Abstract
IntroductionDespite treatment with hypothermia, 40% of newborns with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy die or suffer moderate to severe disability. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) could be a useful, non-invasive tool to establish the prognosis. ObjectivesTo evaluate the prognostic value of NIRS in predicting neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18–36 months in newborns with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, and to establish the time points and cut-off values of regional cerebral oxygen saturation that exhibit the strongest correlation to these outcomes. Patients and methodsThe study included all term newborns with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy managed with hypothermia and NIRS between 2013 and 2016. We established 3 outcome categories: normal neurodevelopment, moderate disability and severe disability. ResultsThe sample comprised 28 newborns (median gestational age, 39 weeks; median birth weight, 3195 g). The median regional cerebral oxygen saturation increased from 65% to 85% at 48 h post birth. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were normal in 28.6%, while 35.7% developed moderate disability and 35.7% severe disability; 3 patients died. We found a statistically significant difference between groups at 48 h (P = .005) and after hypothermia (P = .03), with higher values in patients with disability. When we compared patients with severe disability group with the other groups, we found a statistically significant area under the ROC curve at 48 h of 0.872 (P = .001) applying a regional cerebral oxygen saturation cutoff of 83.5%. After hypothermia, regional cerebral oxygen saturation values below 66.0% (AUC, 0.794; P = .017) predicted normal development, while values above 82% (AUC, 0.881; P = .001) predicted severe disability. ConclusionsNIRS seems to be a valuable tool to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in patients with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, even after hypothermia, with higher cerebral oxygen saturation values in patients with disability.
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