Burns 2008
Burns 2008
Burns 2008
The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is
located on the World Wide Web at:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/122/1/65.full.html
aDepartment of Paediatrics, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and bRobert Steiner MR Unit, Imaging Sciences Department, Division of
Clinical Sciences, Imperial College London, London, England
The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
Symptomatic hypoglycemia in the newborn period is associated with long-term neu- Patterns of injury associated with symptomatic neonatal hypoglycemia were more var-
rodevelopmental impairment. ied than described previously. Early MRI findings were more instructive than severity or
duration of hypoglycemia in predicting neurodevelopmental outcomes.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND. Symptomatic neonatal hypoglycemia may be associated with later neu-
rodevelopmental impairment. Brain injury patterns identified on early MRI scans
and their relationships to the nature of the hypoglycemic insult and neurodevelop- www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/
peds.2007-2822
mental outcomes are poorly defined.
doi:10.1542/peds.2007-2822
METHODS. We studied 35 term infants with early brain MRI scans after symptomatic Key Words
neonatal hypoglycemia (median glucose level: 1 mmol/L) without evidence of hy- neonatal hypoglycemia, magnetic
poxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Perinatal data were compared with equivalent data resonance imaging, outcome
from 229 term, neurologically normal infants (control subjects), to identify risk Abbreviations
factors for hypoglycemia. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed at a mini- BGT— basal ganglia/thalami
CP— cerebral palsy
mum of 18 months. DQ— development quotient
GA— gestational age
RESULTS. White matter abnormalities occurred in 94% of infants with hypoglyce- HC— head circumference
mia, being severe in 43%, with a predominantly posterior pattern in 29% of HIE— hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
cases. Cortical abnormalities occurred in 51% of infants; 30% had white matter MCA—middle cerebral artery
PLIC—posterior limb of the internal
hemorrhage, 40% basal ganglia/thalamic lesions, and 11% an abnormal posterior capsule
limb of the internal capsule. Three infants had middle cerebral artery territory SI—signal intensity
infarctions. Twenty-three infants (65%) demonstrated impairments at 18 WM—white matter
months, which were related to the severity of white matter injury and involve- Accepted for publication Nov 1, 2007
ment of the posterior limb of the internal capsule. Fourteen infants demonstrated Address correspondence to Frances M.
Cowan, MRCPCH, PhD, Department of
growth restriction, 1 had macrosomia, and 2 had mothers with diabetes mellitus. Paediatrics, Hammersmith Hospital, 5th
Pregnancy-induced hypertension, a family history of seizures, emergency cesar- Floor, Ham House, Du Cane Rd, London,
ean section, and the need for resuscitation were more common among case England W12 0HS. E-mail: f.cowan@
imperial.ac.uk
subjects than control subjects.
PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005;
CONCLUSIONS. Patterns of injury associated with symptomatic neonatal hypoglycemia Online, 1098-4275). Copyright © 2008 by the
American Academy of Pediatrics
were more varied than described previously. White matter injury was not confined
to the posterior regions; hemorrhage, middle cerebral artery infarction, and basal
ganglia/thalamic abnormalities were seen, and cortical involvement was common. Early MRI findings were more
instructive than the severity or duration of hypoglycemia for predicting neurodevelopmental outcomes. Pediatrics
2008;122:65–74
T RANSIENT LOW BLOOD/PLASMA glucose levels are common during the period of metabolic transition to the
extrauterine environment among infants born at term.1,2 In a significant minority, hypoglycemia is associated
with acute neurologic dysfunction, and it has been associated with long-term neurodevelopmental impairment.3,4
The neuroanatomic substrate of injury and its relationships with the severity and duration of hypoglycemia in
humans are unclear; consequently, long-term outcomes are difficult to predict.
There is no universally accepted, “safe” blood glucose level for newborns, partly because individual susceptibility
to brain injury varies, on the basis of factors such as gestational age (GA), type and volume of early milk feedings,
presence of comorbid conditions, and ability of the infant to produce and to use alternative cerebral fuels. In many
centers, this has led to the development of guidelines designed to detect infants at high risk and the implementation
of operational thresholds for intervention, such as those proposed by Cornblath et al.5
66 BURNS et al
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SI abnormalities, with apparently normal myelination in TABLE 1 Perinatal Characteristics of Case and Control Infants
the posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC). Mod- Case (n ⫽ 35) Control (n ⫽ 229)
erate indicates multifocal BGT abnormalities, usually
GA, wk
with abnormal or equivocal PLIC findings. Severe indi-
Median 39.5 39
cates abnormalities of the entire BGT and PLIC. Minimum 37 37
Maximum 42 42
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Mean ⫾ SD 39.47 ⫾ 1.21 39.56 ⫾ 1.20
Outcomes at a minimum of 18 months were determined Missing data 0 5
by using a standardized neurologic assessment16 and Birth weight, g
Griffiths’ Mental Developmental Scales,18 from which a Median 3036 3370
development quotient (DQ) was calculated. CP was de- Mean ⫾ SD 3098 ⫾ 615 3395 ⫾ 484
Missing data 0 2
fined according to published criteria.19 Although we had
Apgar score at 1 min
longer-term information for many children, outcomes at Median 8 9
18 to 24 months were analyzed for uniformity. Head Minimum 3 5
growth, occurrence of seizures, and specific visual or Maximum 10 10
speech/language difficulties at any age (range: 2–10 Apgar score at 5 min
years) were noted. For children who could not be eval- Median 10 10
uated by us, specific information was obtained from local Minimum 5 8
pediatric and child developmental services. Outcomes Maximum 10 10
were classified as follows: normal, DQ of ⬎85, normal Resuscitation at birth, n (%)
neurologic examination results and head growth, and None 20 (57) 172 (76)
Minor 13 (37) 55 (24)
absence of seizures; mild, DQ of ⬎85 but with mild
Major 2 (6) 2 (1)
motor impairment (including mild hemiplegia with in- Cord pH
dependent finger movements), suboptimal head growth, ⱕ7.0, n (%) 0 (0) 0 (0)
specific visual or language problems, or seizures or DQ of 7.0–7.1, n (%) 4 (11) 0 (0)
⬍85 but ⬎70 without other complications; moderate, ⱖ7.2, n (%) 8 (23) 183 (80)
DQ of ⬍70, severe hemiplegia, or mild quadriplegia, Not tested, n (%) 23 (66) 46 (20)
with or without seizures; severe, unassessable with the Mean ⫾ SD 7.21 ⫾ 0.10 7.33 ⫾ 0.06
Griffiths’ scales, suboptimal head growth, severe spastic Median 7.26 7.34
quadriplegia, or ongoing seizures. Minimum 7.02 7.20
Maximum 7.35 7.63
Statistical Analyses
Data were analyzed by using StatsDirect 2.5.6 (Stats-
Direct Ltd, Altrincham, Cheshire, United Kingdom).
3098 g; control subjects: mean: 3395 g; P ⫽ .008). There
Where appropriate, unpaired Student’s t tests or Mann-
were more boys among the infants with hypoglycemia
Whitney U tests for continuous data and 2 tests or
(P ⫽ .0019).
Fisher’s exact tests for categorical variables were used.
Data were assessed for normality by using the Sharipo-
Wilk test, and the level of significance was set at P ⬍ .05. Prenatal Factors
Infants with hypoglycemia were more likely to be born
to mothers who developed pregnancy-induced hyper-
RESULTS
tension (P ⫽ .04) or had a family history of seizures or
Study Group neurologic disease (P ⫽ .0008). Six of the case subjects
Eighty-four infants with ⱖ1 documented episode of had a family history of seizures. In 1 case, these occurred
early postnatal hypoglycemia and early MRI were iden- in the neonatal period in a second-degree relative, al-
tified. Thirty-nine infants were excluded because of ev- though the cause was unknown. In 5 cases, seizures
idence of HIE and 10 because their MRI was performed began outside the neonatal period, in first-degree rela-
at ⬎6 postnatal weeks, leaving 35 infants who fulfilled tives in 2 cases and in second-degree relatives in 3 cases.
all study criteria.
Perinatal Factors
Overall Case and Control Infant Characteristics There was a significantly lower rate of spontaneous vag-
The case and control infants were comparable with re- inal delivery among case infants (P ⫽ .01), and more
spect to GA (case subjects: mean: 39.47 weeks; range: case infants were delivered through emergency cesarean
37– 42 weeks; control subjects: mean: 39.56 weeks; section (P ⬍ .0001) (Table 1). Case infants were more
range: 37– 42 weeks; P ⫽ .92), birth HC (case subjects: likely to require minor or major resuscitation at birth
mean: 34.28 cm; range: 31– 47.6 cm; control subjects: (P ⫽ .04).
mean: 34.55 cm; range: 31–38; P ⫽ .34), and multiple
births. More case infants demonstrated growth restric- Hypoglycemia Characteristics
tion, defined as birth weight of ⬍10th percentile (case The majority (n ⫽ 30; 86%) had severe hypoglycemia
subjects: n ⫽ 14, 39%; control subjects: n ⫽ 17, 7%; P ⫽ (⬍1.5 mmol/L) on ⱖ1 occasion (Table 2). Twenty-two
⬍.0001), and lower birth weight (case subjects: mean: infants had transient hypoglycemia that resolved promptly
68 BURNS et al
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FIGURE 1
Hemorrhagic WM abnormality (T1-weighted MRI scan in the sagittal plane, obtained 5
days after birth; GA: 40.57 weeks). There are foci of abnormal SI in the cortex and subcor-
tical WM consistent with hemorrhage (arrow). This pattern of injury often complicates
sagittal sinus thrombosis, which was not detected in this child, although a venogram was
not obtained. There is, however, some abnormally high SI along the tentorium and FIGURE 2
superiorly, consistent with subdural hemorrhage. This child had a normal outcome. Asymmetrical WM and central gray matter abnormality (T2-weighted MRI scan in the
transverse plane, obtained 6 days after birth; GA: 41.29 weeks). There is loss of gray
matter/WM differentiation in the right hemisphere consistent with infarction (short ar-
infants with bilateral injury, 15 had symmetrical row) in the middle and posterior territories of the MCA and associated abnormally low SI
changes. in the lentiform nuclei and head of the caudate nucleus and thalamus (long arrow). There
is additional high SI within the WM on the right frontally (arrowhead), as well as anteriorly
and posteriorly on the left (arrowhead). There is mild ventricular dilation. This child de-
BGT and PLIC veloped left hemiplegia, relative microcephaly, and epilepsy.
Fourteen infants (40%) had some involvement of the
BGT. Four cases were moderate or severe and associated
with abnormal PLIC findings. One of those 4 patients and 1 had abnormal signal intensity in the cerebellum.
had extensive unilateral MCA territory infarction (Fig Five infants had extracerebral hemorrhage, and 3 had
2), 1 had multiple hemorrhagic lesions throughout the germinal layer-intraventricular hemorrhage.
BGT, 1 had complete unilateral loss of myelin associated
with abnormal SI in the lentiform nuclei on the same Patterns of Brain Injury According to Severity of
side and multiple areas of hemorrhage in the WM, and 1 Hypoglycemia
had only mildly abnormal SI within the PLIC associated The median value of the lowest recorded blood glucose
with posterior parasagittal infarction. The 10 milder BGT reading was 1.0 mmol/L (range: 0 –2.5 mmol/L). Thirty
lesions predominantly involved abnormal SI in either infants had severe hypoglycemia (ⱕ1.5 mmol/L), and 5
the thalamus or lentiform nuclei; 3 infants had changes had mild hypoglycemia (⬍2.6 to ⬎1.5 mmol/L). The
in the globus pallidi (Fig 5), and all had a normal- severity of hypoglycemia was not associated with spe-
appearing PLIC. The 2 other infants with focal arterial cific patterns of injury.
infarction had no involvement of the PLIC.
Patterns of Brain Injury According to Duration of
Cortex Hypoglycemia
Eighteen (51%) infants had cortical abnormality. In Twenty-two infants responded rapidly to treatment,
34% this was cortical highlighting and in the majority of without subsequent recurrence. In 13 infants, the hypo-
cases, this was widespread and in a parasagittal distribu- glycemia was either prolonged or recurrent. No striking
tion. Twenty-six percent of infants had loss of cortical distinguishing MRI features were seen for infants with
markings, a finding associated with early cortical infarc- transient versus prolonged/recurrent hypoglycemia.
tion and often seen adjacent to WM injury, giving rise to
a loss of gray matter/WM differentiation. A small num- Patterns of Brain Injury According to the Presence of Seizures
ber of infants (n ⫽ 3) had both abnormalities. Nine children had seizures over a period of several days;
all had moderate or severe WM injury and 7 had cortical
Other Sites involvement. Five children did not develop seizures; 1
Injury in other sites was rare. One infant had abnormal had normal MRI findings, 1 had mildly abnormal WM, 3
SI in the brainstem, 1 had a small hemorrhagic lesion had moderately abnormal WM, and none had cortical
70 BURNS et al
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TABLE 4 Severity of Outcomes and Patterns of Injury on MRI Scans
No. (%)
Normal Mild Moderate Severe
(n ⫽ 8) (n ⫽ 15) (n ⫽ 8) (n ⫽ 3)
WM
Normal 1 0 0 0
Mild 1 4 0 0
Moderate 4 7 2 0
Severe 2 4 6 3
Nature of severe WM lesions
Focal hemorrhage 0 0 1 1
Focal infarction 1 1 1 0
Widespread infarction 1 3 4 2
Global 1 0 0 1
Symmetrical posterior parasagittal 0 1 4 1
Asymmetrical posterior parasagittal 0 2 0 0
Location of all WM lesions
Global 4 5 4 2
Posterior more than anterior 0 1 2 1
Anterior more than posterior 1 0 0 1
Unilateral 1 1 0 0
Posterior only 0 2 3 1
Anterior only 0 0 0 0
Periventricular 3 8 1 0
Posterior 2 2 0 0
BGT involvement
FIGURE 5 Normal 6 9 3 2
BGT abnormality (T1-weighted MRI scan in the transverse plane, obtained 3 days after Mild 2 4 3 1
birth; GA: 40 weeks). There is bilaterally increased SI in the region of the globus pallidum Moderate/severe 0 2 2 0
(arrow). In addition, there is some low SI in the lentiform nuclei on the left and there are PLIC
some small areas of cortical highlighting in the depths of the central sulci (not shown). Abnormal or absent myelination 0 2 2 0
This child exhibited normal cognitive and motor development at the follow-up evalua- Normal myelination 8 13 6 3
tion but had developed a squint.
Cortex
Normal 4 7 3 2
Cortical highlightinga 3 4 4 1
Loss of markingsa 2 5 2 0
outcomes within the reference range or mildly abnormal a Not mutually exclusive.
outcomes. The infant from this group with a moderately
abnormal outcome had an extensive MCA infarction,
with severe hemiplegia, infantile spasms, a visual field DISCUSSION
defect, and delayed speech and language development. This is the first study of a large cohort of term symptom-
Outcomes were more varied for infants with prolonged atic infants with hypoglycemia that assesses MRI injury
or severe hypoglycemia. patterns in relation to clinical presentations and neuro-
developmental outcomes. We show that the patterns of
brain injury detected on early MRI scans are more varied
MRI Findings and Outcomes than those described in the literature. Previous smaller
Outcomes correlated well with MRI findings (Table 4). studies with heterogeneous cohorts reported that the
Infants with CP either had a unilateral focal infarction or most severe injury is localized to the parietal and occip-
posterior parasagittal infarction involving the PLIC, giv- ital cortex and subcortical WM.9–15,20 In our study, which
ing them hemiplegia (n ⫽ 2), or had severe bilateral WM was confined to term infants and excluded infants with
injury, giving them spastic quadriplegia (n ⫽ 3); 1 infant HIE, only 29% of subjects showed a primarily posterior
with hemiplegia had bilateral WM injury with asymmet- pattern of injury.
rical involvement of the thalami. The other 2 infants Why the parietal and occipital lobes should be most
who had PLIC changes had delayed fine motor skills at severely affected after neonatal hypoglycemia is unclear.
the follow-up evaluations. Nine of the 14 children who There are several putative mechanisms for hypoglyce-
had severe global WM changes had very low DQ values mia-induced cellular injury, including excitatory neuro-
or could not be assessed; the other 5 children had nor- toxins active at N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors,21,22
mal or mildly abnormal outcomes, but all had either increased mitochondrial free radical generation and ini-
unilateral or asymmetrical WM injury with a normal tiation of apoptosis,23 and altered cerebral energetic
BGT. Eight children had WM infarction (2 asymmetrical characteristics.24 The parietal/occipital lobes are not
and 6 symmetrical) in the posterior parasagittal region; known to be particularly vulnerable to these effects, but
asymmetrical injury was associated with milder out- some occipital regional vulnerability has been demon-
comes than symmetrical injury. strated as increased regional cerebral blood flow during
72 BURNS et al
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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74 BURNS et al
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Patterns of Cerebral Injury and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes After
Symptomatic Neonatal Hypoglycemia
Charlotte M. Burns, Mary A. Rutherford, James P. Boardman and Frances M. Cowan
Pediatrics 2008;122;65
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2007-2822
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