title: Grading of cerebral autoregulation in preterm and term neonates.
abstract: The response of cerebral blood flow velocity to a single spontaneous transient rise in blood pressure was studied to grade the cerebral autoregulatory response of newborns. Blood pressure was measured continuously through an umbilical or peripheral arterial catheter; continuous flow velocity recordings were taken from the middle cerebral artery using continuous wave Doppler ultrasound. From a cohort of 62 healthy term and preterm neonates, 325 transients in mean arterial blood pressure and mean cerebral blood flow velocity were identified for analysis using a foot-seeking algorithm. An initial classification of active or impaired autoregulation was given to each transient using a self-clustering technique. The grading of the transients was studied by examining the slope of the return of the cerebral blood flow velocity to baseline. Negative slopes indicate a normal autoregulation; slopes of 0 or greater indicate an absence of autoregulation. This classification was in agreement with the self-clustering method (Cohen's kappa = 0.94, P<0.0001). The relationship between the autoregulatory response assessed by the grading method and gestational age, postnatal age, and PCO(2) was examined using linear regression analysis. A significant relationship with gestational age (P = 0.002) but not PCO(2) (P = 0.06) or postnatal age (P = 0.14) was evident.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Physics; Faculty of Medicine, Leicester University, Leicester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Panerai
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rennie
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide