Long-Term Neurodevelopmental Impairment among Very Preterm Infants with Sepsis, Meningitis, and Intraventricular Hemorrhage

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Sepsis and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) are associated with poorer long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in very preterm infants (VPIs), but less is known about the long-term effect of meningitis and the combined impact of both meningitis and IVH. Our objective was to examine the long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of VPIs with late onset sepsis and meningitis, with and without IVH, in Canada. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all infants &lt;29 weeks GA who were admitted to 26 tertiary-level neonatal intensive care units in the Canadian Neonatal Network (CNN) and Canadian Neonatal Follow-Up Network (CNFUN) databases, from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2016. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Of the 6,322 infants in the cohort, 4,575 had no infection, 1,590 had late onset culture-positive bloodstream infection (CPBSI) only, and 157 had late onset meningitis. There was a significant (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05) trend of increasing rates of significant neurodevelopmental delay (sNDI) when comparing infants with no infection (sNDI rate 15.0%), late onset CPBSI (sNDI rate 22.9%), and late onset meningitis (sNDI rate 32.0%), even after adjustment for infant characteristics. Similar trends were observed for neurodevelopmental impairment, cerebral palsy, and individual Bayley-III scores &lt;85 for cognitive, language, and motor development. There was an additive effect of IVH in all infant categories, but there was no multiplicative effect between IVH and late onset meningitis. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> There was an increasing trend of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes when infants with no infection, late onset CPBSI and late onset meningitis are compared. IVH had an additive effect.