NPM Fellow University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Background: Neurosurgical intervention in an early stage of post-hemorrhagic ventricular dilatation (PHVD), as assessed with ventricular size indices from cranial ultrasound (cUS), has been shown to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants. Benefits for outcome must be balanced against intervention risks and potential of overtreatment. Objective: To evaluate in preterm infants the value of ventricular size indices from cUS for predicting PHVD trajectory. Design/Methods: For all preterm infants ( < 29 weeks’ gestation) born between 2010 and 2018 with any grade of intraventricular hemorrhage and ≥3 cUS throughout the neonatal period, anterior horn width (AHW) and ventricular index (VI) were measured. PHVD was defined as AHW >6mm or VI >97th percentile (p97) for postmenstrual age. Infants were grouped based on receipt of neurosurgical intervention for symptomatic PHVD. Differences between groups are being assessed using Fisher’s exact or Pearson’s chi-squared test for categorical variables and analysis of variance for continuous variables where normality assumption was confirmed by Shapiro-Wilk’s test or Kruskal-Wallis test if normality assumption was not confirmed. A growth mixture model is being used to identify individual latent trajectory classes and compare this to observed outcome with additional clinical markers incorporated. A p-value of < 0.05 is considered statistically significant for all tests.
Approval from the Conjoint Human Research Ethics Board at the University of Calgary was obtained (REB 20-1165); requirement for informed consent from participants for this retrospective study with anonymized data was waived. Data was extracted from clinical charts and neonatal-perinatal databases, and cUS reviewed on electronic image reviewing system.
Timeline: Data collection is complete. Data analysis is ongoing, it is anticipated that this will be completed in November 2023.
.jpg "Grace Mirembe Musiime, MBBCH, MSc, MMED (she/her/hers) photo")