Being born extremely preterm with low-grade intraventricular haemorrhage had no impact on brain volumes or neurodevelopment in later childhood

Aim: Our aim was to investigate the impact that low-grade intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) had on neonatal morbidities, brain volumes and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children born extremely preterm (EPT) and compare them with children born EPT without low-grade IVH.

Methods: This prospective cohort study was carried out in Stockholm, Sweden. It focused on 103 children born EPT from 2004 to 2007, at less than 27 weeks of gestation, without major brain injuries. The group with low-grade IVH, defined as grades I-II, were compared with children born EPT without IVH. Around half (45%) underwent MRI scans at 10 years of age and 55% had neurodevelopmental assessments at 12 years.

Results: The low-grade IVH group was sicker during the neonatal period than the children born EPT without IVH. They had lower gestational ages at birth, more days on mechanical ventilation, a higher incidence of necrotising enterocolitis and were more likely to need surgical ligation of patent ductus arteriosus. However, they did not have significantly smaller brain volumes at 10 years of age or worse neurodevelopmental outcomes at 12 years of age.

Conclusion: Brain volumes or neurodevelopment were not affected in children born EPT with low-grade IVH, compared to children born EPT without IVH.