Adverse Short-Term Outcomes of Preterm Infants Born to Mothers with Preeclampsia by Doppler Cranial Ultrasound Investigation

Abstract

Objective: In preeclampsia, abnormal fetal hemodynamics changes can be detected by Doppler ultrasound and predicted the perinatal outcome. But seldom studies focus on these preterm neonate’s hemodynamics changes during 72 hours after birth and the adverse short-term outcomes. The present study is planned to assess the parameters of middle cerebral arteries and associate the short-term outcome at 37 weeks early term age in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia. Methods: A total of 114 preterm neonates were included. The Doppler cranial ultrasound was performed to bilateral middle cerebral arteries within 12 - 24 hours, 36 - 48 hours, 60 - 72 hours after birth for all the eligible study neonates. The parameters of resistive index (RI), resistive index (PI) and middle cerebral velocity (MBFV) were recorded by Doppler cranial ultrasound and 106 infants survived assessed by the Neonatal Behavioral Neurological Assessment (NBNA) at 37 weeks early term-equivalent age. Results: There were a total of 106 subjects that finally completed the NBNA examination at 37 weeks of early term-equivalent age. In the surviving infants, there were a total of 26 infants with abnormal NBNA scores, among them, 12 infants’ mothers were diagnosed with preeclampsia, accounting for up to 46.1%. In these preterm neonates, the lower velocity of bilateral middle cerebral arteries was observed in abnormal infants (p < 0.05) and the lowest velocity was observed in these abnormal babies with preeclampsia (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Velocity of middle cerebral artery is significantly abnormal in preeclampsia. The slower velocity in the 72 hours after birth, the higher associated with adverse perinatal short-term outcome.