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How to Obtain Reliable Visual Event-related Potentials in Newborns
Published on: October 24, 2019
Visual evoked potentials in disproportionately growth-retarded human neonates
C Magnus Thordstein1, Bo L Sultan, Margareta M Wennergren
1Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Göteborg, Sweden.
Insights
In utero growth restriction in infants is linked to delayed brain development, as shown by visual evoked potentials. This delay, evident in neonatal brain function, may indicate future health risks.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal neuroscience
- Developmental pediatrics
- Neurophysiology
Background:
- Assessing neonatal brain development is crucial for understanding long-term outcomes.
- Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a significant concern in perinatal medicine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of disproportionate intrauterine growth restriction on neonatal brain development.
- To correlate prenatal indicators with postnatal neurophysiological findings in growth-restricted infants.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of Doppler flow velocities (prenatal) and visual evoked potentials (postnatal) in disproportionately growth-retarded and appropriately grown neonates.
- Visual evoked potential recordings were obtained at 40 and 46 weeks of gestation.
Main Results:
- Growth-retarded infants exhibited significantly prolonged P and N peak latencies in visual evoked potentials at both time points.
- This delay in visual evoked potentials corresponded to an approximate 3-week developmental lag.
- Increased P peak latency correlated with prenatal Doppler indices and neonatal anthropometric measures of growth restriction.
Conclusions:
- Intrauterine growth restriction adversely affects neonatal brain development, as evidenced by visual evoked potential alterations.
- The observed developmental delay suggests intracerebral factors may contribute to the pathophysiology of growth restriction.
- These neurophysiological changes may hold prognostic value for the long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of affected infants.
Abstract:
To study brain function in the neonatal period, disproportionately growth-retarded (n = 33) and appropriately grown (n = 21) infants were examined using Doppler flow velocities prenatally and visual evoked potentials postnatally. Visual evoked potentials recordings were made at gestation of 40 and 46 weeks. The group of growth-retarded infants had significantly prolonged latencies to both of the two major peaks (designated P and N), most pronounced for the P peak. This result was observed at both ages investigated and corresponds to a developmental delay of 3 weeks. For individuals, the increase in P latency correlated to prenatal flow indices and to neonatal anthropometric parameters indicative of growth retardation. We conclude that in utero growth retardation affects brain development as assessed by visual evoked potentials in the neonatal period. This developmental delay may be produced by intracerebral factors during the process of growth retardation, and these alterations may have a prognostic value.
