title: Cranial sonography in very-low-birth-weight infants: do all infants need to be screened?
abstract: The objective of the study was to develop clinical screening criteria to diagnose infants with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and cystic periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). We performed a case-control investigation of two cohorts of very-low-birth-weight infants (n = 505, combined cohorts). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed from data obtained in cohort 1 to develop screening criteria for IVH and cystic PVL. The screening criteria were then applied to cohort 2. The screening criteria for IVH had a sensitivity of only 51%, a specificity of 62%, a positive predictive value of 31%, and a negative predictive value of 79%. Screening criteria for cystic PVL had a sensitivity of only 22%, a specificity of 58% a positive predictive value of 2%, and a negative predictive value of 95%. These data suggest that using clinical criteria to determine which infants should receive screening cranial sonography for IVH and cystic PVL would miss a substantial number of infants with these conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, DE, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Pearlman
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Finkelstein
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Stefano
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D007969:Leukomalacia, Periventricular / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography