Risk Factors for Brain Damage in Preterm Infants After Late-Onset Circulatory Collapse Events

Abstract

Purpose This study aimed to identify risk factors for brain damage in infants with late-onset circulatory collapse (LCC), a circulatory failure that responds to glucocorticoid therapy. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 167 infants (gestational age <35 weeks) who had hypotension between April 2009 and March 2017 at Boramae Medical Center. Forty infants were diagnosed with LCC and divided into two groups based on ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging findings: infants with periventricular leukomalacia (n=9) and those with normal images (n=31) after LCC. The clinical factors of these two groups, including perinatal characteristics, clinical features during the LCC period, and neonatal morbidities, were compared. Results There were no significant differences in perinatal characteristics and postnatal morbidities between the two groups. Postnatal age was greater in the group with brain damage (16 days vs. 24 days, P=0.047). The lowest mean blood pressure (MBP) and lowest serum sodium concentration were significantly lower in the brain damage group (19 mm Hg vs. 22 mm Hg, P=0.034; 125 mmol/L vs. 129 mmol/L, P=0.043). There were no significant differences in other clinical factors, including cortisol levels, and inotrope and hydrocortisone use. In multivariate logistic regression, older postnatal age (odds ratio [OR], 1.147; P=0.049), lower MBP (OR, 0.616; P=0.031), and lower sodium concentration (OR, 0.728; P=0.037) during the LCC period highly predicted brain damage in infants with LCC (area under the curve 0.882, P=0.001). Conclusion Close monitoring of LCC signs even in long-term stable preterm infants and management for preventing severe hyponatremia and hypotension are important to minimize the occurrence of brain damage in infants with LCC.

Keywords

• adrenal insufficiency
• leukomalacia, periventricular
• infant, premature