Cerebral oximetry in preterm infants: An agenda for research with a clear clinical goal

Gorm Greisen*, Bjørn Andresen, Anne Mette Plomgaard, Simon Hyttel-Sørensen

*Corresponding author for this work
24 Citations (Scopus)
79 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Preterm birth constitutes a major cause of death before 5 years of age and it is a major cause of neurodevelopmental impairment across the world. Preterm infants are most unstable during the transition between fetal and newborn life during the first days of life and most brain damage occurs in this period. The brain of the preterm infant is accessible for tissue oximetry by near-infrared spectroscopy. Cerebral oximetry has the potential to improve the long-term outcome by helping to tailor the support of respiration and circulation to the individual infant's needs, but the evidence is still lacking. The goals for research include testing the benefit and harms of cerebral oximetry in large-scale randomized trials, improved definition of the hypoxic threshold, better understanding the effects of intensive care on cerebral oxygenation, as well as improved precision of oximeters and calibration among devices or standardization of values in the hypoxic range. These goals can be pursued in parallel.

Original languageEnglish
Article number031407
JournalNeurophotonics
Volume3
Issue number3
Number of pages7
ISSN2329-423X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2016

Keywords

  • brain hypoxia
  • brain injuries
  • clinical study
  • near-infrared spectroscopy
  • preterm infant

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