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Biomedical subjects

L McKee

Publications and source records attributed to L McKee.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Neurodevelopment of preterm infants: neonatal neurosonographic and serum bilirubin studies.

In this study of 249 preterm infants of less than 34 weeks' gestation, the relationships between maximal serum total bilirubin concentrations during the neonatal period, neonatal cranial ultrasonographic abnormalities, and severe neurodevelopmental sequelae are described. The subjects, who were selected on the basis of serial cranial ultrasonographic findings, had repeated neurologic and developmental examinations during late infancy and early childhood that established the presence (n = 45) or absence (n = 204) of spastic forms of cerebral palsy. Of the 204 subjects without cerebral palsy, 23 scored abnormally low on standardized developmental testing during early childhood. All but seven of the subjects with cerebral palsy had grade III/IV intracranial hemorrhage or moderate to severe periventricular echogenicity or both, ultrasonographic abnormalities that probably reflect a disruption in the blood-brain barrier as well as extravasation of blood into brain tissue; however, analysis of the data did not suggest that these cranial ultrasonographic abnormalities increased either the maximum serum bilirubin concentration during the neonatal period or the susceptibility of the subjects to neurologic damage from hyperbilirubinemia. Also, there was no evidence to suggest that bilirubinemia in the range studied (2.3 to 22.5 mg/100 mL total serum bilirubin) was causally related to cerebral palsy, early developmental delay, or the development of periventricular cysts in this population of preterm infants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Apgar Score

Mechanical ventilation in preterm infants: neurosonographic and developmental studies.

Surviving preterm infants of less than 34 weeks' gestation who were selected on the basis of serial cranial ultrasonographic findings during their nursery course had repeated neurologic and developmental examinations during late infancy and early childhood that established the presence (n = 46) or absence (n = 205) of spastic forms of cerebral palsy. Of the 205 infants without cerebral palsy, 22 scored abnormally low on standardized developmental testing during early childhood. The need for mechanical ventilation beginning on the first day of life (n = 92) was significantly related to gestational age, birth weight, Apgar scores, patent ductus arteriosus, grade III/IV intracranial hemorrhage, large periventricular cysts, and the development of cerebral palsy. In the 192 mechanically ventilated infants, vaginal bleeding during the third trimester, low Apgar scores, and maximally low PCO2 values during the first 3 days of life were significantly related to large periventricular cysts (n = 41) and cerebral palsy (n = 43), but not to developmental delay in the absence of cerebral palsy (n = 18). The severity of intracranial hemorrhage in mechanically ventilated infants was significantly associated with gestational age and maximally low measurements of PCO2 and pH, but not with Apgar scores or maximally low measurements of PO2. Logistic regression analyses controlling for possible confounding variables disclosed that PCO2 values of less than 17 mm Hg during the first 3 days of life in mechanically ventilated infants were associated with a significantly increased risk of moderate to severe periventricular echodensity, large periventricular cysts, grade III/IV intracranial hemorrhage, and cerebral palsy. Neurosonographic abnormalities were highly predictive of cerebral palsy independent of PCO2 measurements.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Brain Diseases