Risk factors of neurodevelopmental outcomes in very/extremely low birth weight infants

Abstract

Objective To analyze the risk factors of adverse neurodevelopmental prognostic in very /extremely low birth weight infants (VLBWI/ELBWI). Methods The 24 hours VLBWI/ELBWI admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit between January 2016 and October 2016 were enrolled.These infants were followed up and neurodevelopmental evaluation was performed at a corrected age of 12 months by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development Ⅱ (BSID-Ⅱ). According to the neurodevelopmental outcomes, they were divided into normal and abnormal neurodeve-lopment groups.The data of prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods in the two groups were compared.Potential risk factors of neurodevelopmental impairment were analyzed with Logistic stepwise regression. Results A total of 167 VLBWI/ELBWI were enrolled, among which 14 cases died during hospitalization or after giving up treatment.At the corrected age of 12 months, 140(91.5%) infants completed follow-up and 13(8.5%) were lost to follow-up.Among 140 infants who completed neurodevelopmental evaluation at the corrected age of 12 months, there were 86 males, 54 females, and in which 28 cases had extremely low birth weight, 112 cases with very low birth weight, with gestational age of (30.4±2.2) weeks (25.3-36.0 weeks). There were one hundred and twenty-five cases with normal neurodevelopmental outcomes and 15 cases with abnormal neurodevelopmental outcomes.The results of univariate analysis showed that birth weight<1 000 g, exposure to antenatal steroids, N -terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) ≥35 000 ng/L and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in the two groups were statistically significant(P<0.05). Logistic stepwise regression showed that NT-proBNP level≥35 000 ng/L may independently predict neurodevelopmental impairment among VLBWI/ELBWI (OR=22.774, 95%CI: 3.079-168.425, P=0.002). Exposure to antenatal steroids may be a protective factor for neurodevelopmental impairment (OR=0.125, 95%CI: 0.020-0.782, P=0.026). Conclusions Plasma NT-proBNP level ≥35 000 ng/L may independently predict neurodevelopmental impairment among VLBWI/ELBWI.Antenatal corticosteroids may be the protective factor of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. Key words: Neurodevelopmental prognosis; Bayley Scales of Infant Development Ⅱ; Very low birth weight infant; Extremely low birth weight infant