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Published on: June 6, 2020
Birth weight and head circumference discordance and outcome in preterms: results from the EPIPAGE-2 cohort
Isabelle Guellec1,2, Adelaide Brunet3, Alexandre Lapillonne4
1Epope Team, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center/CRESS, Université de Paris, Paris, France isabelle.guellec@inserm.fr.
Objective:
To determine whether the relative measurement of birth weight (BW) and head circumference (HC) in preterm infants is associated with neurological outcomes.
Methods:
The EPIPAGE-2 Study included 3473 infants born before 32 weeks' gestation, classified based on their Z-score of BW and HC on the Fenton curves as concordant (≤1 SD apart) or discordant (>1 SD difference). We defined four mutually exclusive categories: discordant smaller BW (sBW) with BW
Results:
2592 (74.8%) preterm neonates were categorised as CM, 258 (7.4%) CsM, 378 (10.9%) sHC and 239 (6.9%) sBW. Compared with the CM children, those born with CsM had significantly higher risks of cognitive deficiency (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.3, 95% CI (1.0 to 2.0)), developmental coordination disorders (aOR 2.6 (1.5 to 4.4)) and need for special school services (aOR 2.3 (1.5 to 3.7)). Those born with sBW had significantly lower risk of cognitive deficiency (aOR 0.6 (0.4 to 0.9)) and the sHC group significantly higher risk of developmental coordination disorders (aOR 1.8 (1.0 to 3.2)).
Conclusions:
The relative discordance of these preterm infants' BW and HC was associated with their neurological outcomes. It merits further exploration as an indirect indicator of development.
Trial Registration Number:
NCT03078439.
