Cranial US Research Articles

1387 THYROID STATUS OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT (LBW) INFANTS AFTER ACUTE NEONATAL INTRACRANIAL ULTRASOUND (US) ABNORMALITIES

Acute intracranial disturbances such as periventricular (PVH), intraventricular (IVH), parenchymal hemorrhages {PH) and ventricular dilatation (VD) are, theoretically, expected to disturb the hypothalamopituitary-thyroid axis in LBW infants. This possibility is particularly true since both intracranial hemorrhage and abnormal values of thyroid hormones are common in LBW infants. Thyroid status of 71 LBW infants who had State recall for repeat thyroid screening was the subject of this study in which we had 30 infants with abnormal and 41 normal cranial US. Gestational ages (X) of infants with normal US, VD and the hemorrhage were 31.9, 32.5 and 30.1 wks, respectively. Comparative hormonal status of the groups follows: There appears to be a trend towards a lower TSH (μu/ml), T4 and Free T4 with an increasing intracranial involvement, yet the values are not significantly different. The results may be interpreted as a slightly lesser activity of hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis in LBW infants probably secondary to the factors developmental in nature and/or neonatal sicknesses.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTRACRANIAL ULTRASOUND (US) ABNORMALITIES AND VENTILATORY ASSISTANCE (VA) IN LOW BIRTH WEIGHT (LBW) INFANTS

Although the subependymal-intraventricular hemorrhage (SE-IVH) occurs frequently in LBW infants and in infants with multiple perinatal problems including RDS, it is not clear whether the use of VA has a direct relationship to SE-IVH. We studied 65 LBW infants with a birth weight (mean±SD) of 1486±567 gm, gestational age of 31.9±3.9 wks, 1 and 5 minute Apgar scores of 5.6±2.4 and 7.4±2.0 respectively. LBW infants with a birth weight of ≤2000 gm were subjected to a cranial US routinely at least once within the first 5 days of life. Infants with abnormal and normal US were divided into two groups and a comparison of the parameters relevant to the respiratory status between the groups follows:There appears to be a significant relationship between SE-IVH and the use of ventilator during early newborn period in LBW infants. Whether the use of ventilator is contributory to the development of SE-IVH or conversely the SE-IVH is leading to the development of a need of VA is not clear in this study.