Point of care magnetic resonance neonatal neuroimaging applications and early imaging in infants under active therapeutic hypothermia: a perspective.

As care of the most vulnerable infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) evolves, improved and real-time understanding of brain health becomes key. The availability of an in-NICU magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner provides unique options to bedside care providers and researchers. We present our perspective on the 1-Tesla MRI unit in our NICU and its utilities and applications both in the clinical and research fields. We also discuss our experience with early and serial MRI in a cohort of infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy while undergoing therapeutic hypothermia, using a compatible cooling blanket and monitoring apparatus with special insight into the planning and organization between providers, and parental perspectives around early, detailed imaging.

Early Neonatal Presentation and Neuroimaging of Parechovirus Meningoencephalitis in a Preterm Baby: A Case Report.

Neonatal meningoencephalitis caused by human parechovirus infection is being increasingly recognized in recent literature. While most cases are postnatally acquired, intrauterine infection is rare, presents early and has a more severe impact on brain health and development. We discuss here an infant born preterm at 34 weeks gestational age, with neonatal course remarkable for severe encephalopathy presenting on day 2 of life due to human parechovirus meningoencephalitis transmitted in utero. Early magnetic resonance brain imaging detected extensive white matter injury and subsequently evolved into multicystic leukoencephalopathy. Posthospital discharge, infant was noted to have early neurodevelopmental impairment at 4 months corrected age.

Quantitative EEG and prediction of outcome in neonatal encephalopathy: a review.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is an important biomarker for neonatal encephalopathy (NE) and has significant predictive value for brain injury and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Quantitative analysis of EEG involves the representation of complex EEG data in an objective, reproducible and scalable manner. Quantitative EEG (qEEG) can be derived from both a limited channel EEG (as available during amplitude integrated EEG) and multi-channel conventional EEG. It has the potential to enable bedside clinicians to monitor and evaluate details of cortical function without the necessity of continuous expert input. This is particularly useful in NE, a dynamic and evolving condition. In these infants, continuous, detailed evaluation of cortical function at the bedside is a valuable aide to management especially in the current era of therapeutic hypothermia and possible upcoming neuroprotective therapies. This review discusses the role of qEEG in newborns with NE and its use in informing monitoring and therapy, along with its ability to predict imaging changes and short and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. IMPACT: Quantitative representation of EEG data brings the evaluation of continuous brain function, from the neurophysiology lab to the NICU bedside and has a potential role as a biomarker for neonatal encephalopathy. Clinical and research applications of quantitative EEG in the newborn are rapidly evolving and a wider understanding of its utility is valuable. This overview summarizes the role of quantitative EEG at different timepoints, its relevance to management and its predictive value for short- and long-term outcomes in neonatal encephalopathy.

Altered resting-state functional connectivity in newborns with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy assessed using high-density functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) results from a lack of oxygen to the brain during the perinatal period. HIE can lead to mortality and various acute and long-term morbidities. Improved bedside monitoring methods are needed to identify biomarkers of brain health. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can assess resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) at the bedside. We acquired resting-state fNIRS data from 21 neonates with HIE (postmenstrual age [PMA] = 39.96), in 19 neonates the scans were acquired post-therapeutic hypothermia (TH), and from 20 term-born healthy newborns (PMA = 39.93). Twelve HIE neonates also underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) post-TH. RSFC was calculated as correlation coefficients amongst the time courses for fNIRS and fMRI data, respectively. The fNIRS and fMRI RSFC maps were comparable. RSFC patterns were then measured with graph theory metrics and compared between HIE infants and healthy controls. HIE newborns showed significantly increased clustering coefficients, network efficiency and modularity compared to controls. Using a support vector machine algorithm, RSFC features demonstrated good performance in classifying the HIE and healthy newborns in separate groups. Our results indicate the utility of fNIRS-connectivity patterns as potential biomarkers for HIE and fNIRS as a new bedside tool for newborns with HIE.

White Matter Injury on Early-versus-Term-Equivalent Age Brain MRI in Infants Born Preterm.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: White matter injury in infants born preterm is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, depending on the extent and location. White matter injury can be visualized with MR imaging in the initial weeks following preterm birth but is more commonly defined at term-equivalent-age MR imaging. Our aim was to see how white matter injury detection in MR imaging compares between the 2 time points. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study compared white matter injury on early brain MR imaging (30-34 weeks' postmenstrual age) with white matter injury assessment at term-equivalent (37-42 weeks) MR imaging, using 2 previously published and standardized scoring systems, in a cohort of 30 preterm infants born at <33 weeks' gestational age. RESULTS: There was a strong association between the systematic assessments of white matter injury at the 2 time points (P = .007) and the global injury severity (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Although the optimal timing to undertake neuroimaging in the preterm infant remains to be determined, both early (30-34 weeks) and term-equivalent MR imaging provide valuable information on white matter injury and the risk of associated sequelae.

Necrotizing Enterocolitis Associated with Congenital Heart Disease-A Review Article.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a relatively rare but devastating entity associated classically with the preterm cohort in the neonatal intensive care unit. Preterm and term babies with congenital heart disease are at risk of a number of comorbidities because of the hemodynamic derangements due to a structurally abnormal heart and the corrective procedures adopted. Necrotizing enterocolitis is one of the dreaded complications associated with this cohort and impacts the course of these babies in the hospital in a major way. A large majority of term babies with NEC are in the backdrop of a significant congenital cardiac lesion. This review article summarizes the literature and elaborates this entity including its specific features, risk factors associated with its causality, histopathology and related aspects of hemodynamics, and feeding in this vulnerable population. It also provides insight into modifiable risk factors and early markers of detection of gut necrosis to facilitate prevention and early detection. It highlights the subtle but definite difference in outcome variables to help physicians enable the parents of babies with heart disease to develop a better understanding of the entity and its expected course while counseling.