EEG, brain maturation, and the development of retinopathy of prematurity.
OBJECTIVE
The factors that influence the central nervous system (CNS) development can affect either the retina or the brain cortex. Immaturity of the brain cortex reflects immaturity of the retina and vice versa. The immature retina is more vulnerable than the mature retina, and is therefore more likely to develop retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The aim of this study was to compare electroencephalographic brain maturity with ROP severity.


METHODS
Twenty-one prematurely born infants were divided into two groups according to the severity of ROP. The first group included 12 infants with ROP stage 3 or more and the second group included nine infants with ROP stage 2 or less. We have proposed an index of CNS maturity (M) as a percentage of interburst interval elongation compared with the norm using video-electroencephalography (vEEG).


RESULTS
The median M value was 1.07 (range = 0.43-4.44) for infants with severe ROP and -0.1 (range = -1.0 to 1.45) for infants with mild or no ROP (p = 0.000948).


CONCLUSIONS
The study revealed that CNS maturation delay expressed as M value was higher among infants with severe ROP than among infants with mild or no ROP. EEG examination in prematurely born infants may prove to be a useful tool for predicting ROP development.
Department of Medical Physics, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland. podrazaw@pum.edu.pl
Wojciech
W
Podraza
Hanna
H
Podraza
Karolina
K
Jezierska
Joanna
J
Szwed
Hanna
H
Domek
Agnieszka
A
Kordek
Monika
M
Modrzejewska
Jacek
J
Rudnicki
D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005325:Fetal Organ Maturity / Q000502:physiology; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D012160:Retina / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014741:Video Recording