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[Characteristics of disturbance coefficient in children without craniocerebral injury at different ages]
1Department of Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Child Development and Critical Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Chongqing 400014, China.
Insights
The disturbance coefficient (DC) reference values in children without brain injury vary significantly by age, increasing with age, weight, and head circumference, but not gender.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Cerebral Edema Monitoring
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Establishing normative reference ranges for physiological parameters in pediatric populations is crucial for accurate clinical assessment.
- The disturbance coefficient (DC) is a parameter measured by dynamic cerebral edema monitors, but its reference ranges and influencing factors in healthy children are not well-defined.
- Understanding these factors is essential for interpreting DC values and detecting potential abnormalities in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the reference ranges for the disturbance coefficient (DC) in children across different age groups.
- To investigate the influence of age, gender, weight, and head circumference (HC) on DC values in healthy children.
- To establish a basis for using DC as a potential indicator in pediatric neurological assessments.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study involving 200 children without craniocerebral injury, aged 0-16 years, divided into four age groups.
- DC was measured twice using a non-invasive dynamic cerebral edema monitor, with the average value recorded.
- Statistical analyses including ANOVA, nonparametric tests, and Loess regression were employed to compare DC values and explore relationships with age, weight, and HC.
Main Results:
- Reference values for DC significantly differed across age groups: 60±14 (0-1 yr), 92±18 (>1-3 yrs), 112±18 (>3-5 yrs), and 135±18 (>5-16 yrs).
- No statistically significant differences in DC were found between male and female children across all age groups.
- DC showed a positive correlation with age, weight, and HC, particularly in children under 5 years, with values stabilizing in older children.
Conclusions:
- Age-specific reference values for DC in children without craniocerebral injury are distinct and clinically relevant.
- DC is positively associated with increasing age, weight, and head circumference in children, but is independent of gender.
- These findings provide valuable normative data for the interpretation of DC measurements in pediatric clinical practice.
Abstract:
Objective: To explore the reference ranges and influential factors of disturbance coefficient (DC) in children without craniocerebral injury at different ages. Methods: Two hundred children without craniocerebral injury admitted to the Department of Orthopaedics in Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from May 2018 to October 2019 were enrolled in this prospective study. The children were divided into four groups according to age, 0-1 year, >1-3 years, >3-5 years and >5-16 years, each of which included 50 children. Each child had DC measured twice with the non-invasive dynamic cerebral edema monitor, and the average value was used as the terminal DC value. Each measurement lasted 15 minutes, 12 hours apart. The difference of DC values among the four groups and between different genders were compared with ANOVA test and nonparametric test. And the Loess local weighted nonparametric regression analysis was used to explore the change of DC according to the increase of age, weight and head circumference (HC). Results: The reference values of DC for children of 0-1 year,>1-3 years, >3-5 years, and >5-16 years were 60±14, 92±18, 112±18, 135±18, respectively (F=175.690, P<0.01). There was no statistical significance in DC between male and female children either in the whole or in each separate age group (103 (81, 125) vs. 102 (68, 123) , Z=-0.739, P=0.460; 59 (52, 68) vs. 57 (53, 65) , Z=-0.243, P=0.808; 88 (81, 105) vs. 95 (70, 105) , Z=-0.776, P=0.437; 117 (99, 120) vs. 113 (101, 123) , Z=-0.170, P=0.865; 137 (123, 143) vs. 142 (123, 160) , Z=-1.279, P=0.201). When the child's age was younger than 5 years, weight was less than 18 kg or HC was less than 51 cm, the DC increased significantly with the increase of age, weight or HC. However, when the age, weight and HC were over the above values, the DC did not show obvious increase, but approaching to stable values of 135, 130, and 130, respectively. Conclusions: For children without craniocerebral injury, the reference values of DC are obviously different at different ages. DC is positively related to age, weight and HC, but not related to gender.
