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Ventriculomegaly in very‐low‐birthweight infants with Down syndrome
Author(s) -
Movsas Tammy Z,
Spitzer Alan R,
Gewolb Ira H
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/dmcn.13191
Subject(s) - ventriculomegaly , medicine , odds ratio , down syndrome , pediatrics , gestational age , intraventricular hemorrhage , confidence interval , population , obstetrics , pregnancy , fetus , genetics , environmental health , psychiatry , biology
Aim The prevalence of Down syndrome in infants with fetal ventriculomegaly is 5% to 10%; however, the converse, the prevalence of cerebral ventriculomegaly in live‐born infants with Down syndrome, is not well established. Because cranial ultrasounds are performed on most very‐low‐birthweight ( VLBW ) infants (birthweight <1500g), our aim was to examine ultrasound abnormalities of VLBW infants to determine prevalence of ventriculomegaly and intraventricular hemorrhage ( IVH ) in VLBW infants with Down syndrome, and whether VLBW infants with Down syndrome are at higher risk for cranial ultrasound abnormalities, compared with the already elevated risk in other VLBW infants. Method This study comprised retrospective analysis of data from Pediatrix BabySteps Clinical Data Warehouse. The study population consisted of 121 736 VLBW infants (61 869 males, 59 867 females), born between 1996 and 2013, of whom 441 had Down syndrome (233 males, 208 females; mean gestational age 30wks, standard deviation [ SD ] 2.8wks). Logistic regression was used to calculate odds of ventriculomegaly and IVH for Down syndrome. Results Prevalence of ventriculomegaly in Down syndrome was 5.2% compared with 0.8% in other VLBW infants. Multivariate analysis indicated 5.8× odds (95% confidence interval [ CI ] 3.4–9.7) of ventriculomegaly in Down syndrome and 0.9× odds (95% CI 0.7–1.1) of IVH for Down syndrome. Interpretation Very preterm infants with Down syndrome are at increased risk for ventriculomegaly (but not for IVH ) compared with other infants born very preterm.