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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Early-infant diagnostic predictors of the neuro-behavioral development after neonatal care
Mamiko Koshiba1, Hiroko Kakei, Masakazu Honda
1Department of Pediatrics, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan.
Insights
Multidimensional diagnosis using hematologic and brain imaging data can predict infant neuro-behavioral development, specifically head control and rolling over. This approach aids in early identification of potential developmental disabilities.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Multidimensional diagnosis is crucial for infant developmental care and predicting future disabilities.
- Integrating diverse data sources (objective/subjective, early/late, central/peripheral) can reveal neuro-pathological mechanisms for timely intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify correlating factors for infant neurological and behavioral development ('Head Control', 'Roll Over').
- To explore the potential of a cross-domain translational approach using multivariate analyses for early developmental assessment.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 31 infants from neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) follow-up.
- Utilized hematologic data, biochemical data, and MRI brain anatomy.
- Applied multivariate correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and regression analysis with variable selection.
Main Results:
- Hematological and brain anatomical factors were correlated with both 'Head Control' and 'Roll Over' development.
- Multivariate analysis revealed potential predictors for neuro-behavioral development.
- Distinguished between infants who appeared neurologically normal (ANN) and abnormal (ANA) before discharge.
Conclusions:
- Hematological and brain anatomical factors are potential early markers for infant neuro-behavioral development.
- Multivariate analysis facilitates integrating subjective and objective developmental information.
- Further studies are needed to evaluate these candidate markers for clinical application.
Abstract:
Multidimensional diagnosis plays a central role in infant developmental care, which leads to the prediction of future disabilities. Information consolidated from objective and subjective, early and late, central and peripheral data may reveal neuro-pathological mechanisms and realize earlier and more precise preventive intervention. In the current study, we retrospectively searched correlating factors to the following neurological and behavioral development of 'Head Control' and 'Roll Over' using multivariate correlation analysis of differ-ent diagnostic domains over age, subject/object information of the patients who were previously admitted in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and could be developmentally followed up in our outpatient clinic. Based on the hematologic and biochemical data, MRI brain anatomy during NICU hospitalization, we characterized all the acquired data distribution from 31 infants with either 'appeared neurologically normal (ANN, n = 21)’ or 'appeared neurologically abnormal (ANA, n = 10)’ pro tempore, with a physician's clinical judgment before discharge. Besides single factor comparisons between ANN and ANA, we examined their development difference by using the multidimensional information processing, principal component analysis (PCA). The diagnostic predictors of neuro-behavioral development were selected by regression analysis with variable selection. It resulted that hematological and brain anatomical factors seemed correlated to both ‘Head Control’ and ‘Roll Over’. This report suggested certain possibility of the cross-domain translational approach between subjective and objective developmental information through multivariate analyses, with candidate markers preliminarily to be evaluated in further studies.
