1. Mild hypothermia and the distribution of cerebral lesions in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
- Author
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Rutherford, Mary A., Azzopardi, Denis, Whitelaw, Andrew, Cowan, Frances, Renowden, S., Edwards, A. David, and Thoresen, Marianne
- Subjects
Infants -- Health aspects ,Infants -- Care and treatment ,Cerebrovascular disease ,Encephalopathy ,Hypothermia ,Neurologic manifestations of general diseases - Abstract
Hypothermia induced by whole-body cooling (WBC) and selective head cooling (SHC) both reduce brain injury after hypoxia-ischemia in newborn animals, but it is not known how these treatments affect the incidence or pattern of brain injury in human newborns. To assess this, 14 term infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) treated with SHC, 20 infants with HIE treated with WBC, and 52 noncooled infants with HIE of similar severity were studied with magnetic resonance imaging in the neonatal period. Infants fulfilling strict criteria for HIE were recruited into the study after assessment of an amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG). Cooling was commenced within 6 hours of birth and continued for 48 to 72 hours. Hypothermia was not associated with unexpected or unusual lesions, and the prevalence of intracranial hemorrhage was similar in all 3 groups. Both modes of hypothermia were associated with a decrease in basal ganglia and thalamic lesions, which are predictive of abnormal outcome. This decrease was significant in infants with a moderate aEEG finding but not in those with a severe aEEG finding. A decrease in the incidence of severe cortical lesions was seen in the infants treated with SHC. brain imaging, hypothermia, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, neonates. ABBREVIATIONS. HIE, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy; WBC, whole-body cooling; SHC, selective head cooling; aEEG, amplitude-integrated electroencephalography; BGT, basal ganglia and thalamus; PLIC, posterior limb of the internal capsule; WM, white matter., Perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury remains an important cause of neurologic disability accounting for 15% to 28% of children with cerebral palsy. (1) The current treatment for infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy [...]
- Published
- 2005