Abstract:

Objective: To investigate neurological status and the risk factors of perinatal encephalopathy of prematurity (EOP) in extremely preterm infants.Methods: Clinical data of extremely preterm infants from January 1st 2009 to December 31st 2015 were collected in Children's Hospital of Fudan University. Gestational ages of infants were all younger than 28 weeks, and all infants underwent magnetic resonance imaging at term-equivalent age or before discharge, and single intracranial hemorrhage infants were taken out. Infants were divided into single EOP group, EOP with intracranial hemorrhage group and normal brain group according to MRI findings at term-equivalent age or before discharge. Univariate analysis was used to determine factors associated with the risk of EOP. Results: Of 115 extremely preterm infants, 20 had single EOP, 15 had EOP with intracranial hemorrhage and 80 were normal brain infants. Among the 35 EOP infants, 31(88.6%) had white matter injury, 4(11.4%) had gray matter injury, 3(8.6%) had cerebellar injury, 1(2.9%) had white matter and gray matter injury and 2(5.7%) had white matter and cerebellar injury. There were 17(48.6%) periventricular white matter injury infants, of them 16(45.7%) were noncystic, and 1(2.9%) was cystic. Fourteen (40%) infants had subcortical white matter injury, and half of them were located in lobe. No significant difference in any factors among the three groups were found (all P>0.05). Conclusion: The most common type of EOP in extremely preterm infants was white matter injury, which was similar to EOP in preterm infants. EOP in extremely preterm infants was not a result of single factor.