Center for Human Development and Family Science, Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya City, Aichi, 467-8601, Japan.
Centre for Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume City, Fukuoka, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 29;11(1):21318. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-00624-9.
If the brain structure is assessed at neonatal intensive care units, covert clinical events related with subtle brain injury might be identified. The reduced scattering coefficient of near-infrared light (μ') obtained using time-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy from the forehead of infants is associated with gestational age, body weight and Apgar scores, presumably reflecting subtle changes of the brain related to foetal growth and birth transition. One hundred twenty-eight preterm and term infants were studied to test whether μ' obtained from the head at term-equivalent age is associated with foetal growth, birth transition and nutritional status after birth, which are key independent variables of developmental outcomes. As potential independent variables of μ', birth weight, Apgar scores, age at full enteral feeding and post-conceptional age at the study were assessed to represent foetal growth, birth transition and nutritional status after birth. Subsequently, higher μ' values were associated with higher Apgar scores (p = 0.003) and earlier establishment of enteral feeding (p < 0.001). The scattering property of near-infrared light within the neonatal brain might reflect changes associated with birth transition and nutritional status thereafter, which might be used as a non-invasive biomarker to identify covert independent variables of brain injury in preterm infants.
如果在新生儿重症监护病房评估大脑结构，可能会发现与轻微脑损伤相关的隐匿性临床事件。使用前额的时分辨近红外光谱技术获得的近红外光的低散射系数（μ'）与胎龄、体重和 Apgar 评分相关，可能反映了与胎儿生长和出生过渡相关的大脑细微变化。研究了 128 名早产儿和足月儿，以测试从足月等效年龄头部获得的μ'是否与胎儿生长、出生过渡和出生后营养状况相关，这些都是发育结果的关键独立变量。作为 μ'的潜在独立变量，评估了出生体重、Apgar 评分、完全肠内喂养的年龄和研究时的孕后年龄，以代表胎儿生长、出生过渡和出生后的营养状况。随后，较高的μ'值与较高的 Apgar 评分（p=0.003）和更早建立肠内喂养（p<0.001）相关。新生儿大脑内近红外光的散射特性可能反映了与出生过渡和此后的营养状况相关的变化，这可能被用作识别早产儿脑损伤隐匿性独立变量的非侵入性生物标志物。
