A study published in The Journal of Pediatrics shows neonatal infections are associated with and motor, cognitive, educational and mental health outcomes of very preterm-born infants.
The study included a cohort of 110 infants born very preterm, who were then studied from birth through the age 9. The researchers confirmed infections in the babies using positive blood, cerebrospinal fluid or urine cultures, and/or necrotizing enterocolitis, stage 2 or later. Then, at 9 years old, the patients were assessed for neuromotor function, IQ, educational achievement and mental health.
The study revealed 25 percent of very preterm infants had confirmed infections, and 23 percent had suspected infections. Infants with a confirmed infection were more likely to experience severe motor impairment, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and IQ delay than patients with suspected or no infection.
The link between confirmed infection and motor and IQ impairments could be contributed to cerebral white matter abnormalities, although the same connection could not be made for ADHD.
"Confirmed neonatal infection heightens [very preterm] infants' risk for neurodevelopmental impairment," concluded the study authors. "White matter abnormalities appears to be an important intervening factor linking infection and severe motor and IQ impairments. Further analysis of the neurologic mechanism accounting for ADHD in infants with infection is needed."
More articles on neonatal care:
Families can video-conference with babies in Aurora NICU: 3 things to know
Transforming pediatric care through telemedicine
Planned out-of-hospital births increase, despite link with perinatal death