Objective: To determine the impact of fetal growth on postnatal amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) and on power spectrum EEG in preterm infants born with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).
Study design: Thirty preterm infants (gestational age [GA] 34±1.9 weeks) were studied. We defined IUGR as birthweight <10th percentile, and control as birthweight appropriate for gestational age. We performed one-channel (C3-C4) EEG during the first 48-hours of life and measured the upper and lower margins of the aEEG trace-width. EEG was analyzed by spectral analysis, and the relative power of the frequency bands was calculated. Lacey Assessment of the Preterm Infant (LAPI) was administered before discharge.
Results: We enrolled 14 IUGR infants (GA 34.3±1.8 weeks, birthweight 1485.7±303.7 g), and 16 controls (GA 33.7±2 weeks, birthweight 1977.7±487.9 g). There were no significant group differences in perinatal complications. IUGR infants had an aEEG trace-width of 20.8±1.4 µv versus 17.3±1.6 µv for the controls (P < .001), a significantly increased delta frequency activity, and decreased theta, alpha and beta frequency activities compared to controls. Delta frequency activities decreased with increasing gestational age: r=-0.8, P = .001 for IUGR and r=-0.9, P <.001 for controls. The LAPI showed a significantly lower developmental score for the IUGR infants (P < .02) that correlated with aEEG trace-width (r=-0.6, P = .002) and with delta activity (r=-0.5, P = .02).
Conclusion: Preterm infants with IUGR have delayed EEG maturation associated with delayed neuromotor development. The predictive ability of these alterations on developmental deficits associated with IUGR, however, remains undetermined.
