Neugeborenen- und Kindermedizin

Abstrakt

The Influence of Dosage and Timing of Caffeine Administration on Neurodevelopmental Outcome of Very Preterm Infants

Joanne S Katz, Agnes Perenyi, Rudolph O Parris and Dimitre G Stefanov

Objective: To analyze starting time (early versus late) and duration of caffeine treatment and its possible
influence on neurodevelopmental (ND) outcome in very preterm infants.
Hypothesis: Early initiation of caffeine treatment with longer duration of treatment may significantly improve ND outcome in very preterm infants.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Level III Neonatal Intensive care Unit (NICU) and out-patient NICU follow-up clinic of an academic medical center in New York City.
Participants: A total of 146 inborn infants with gestational ages (GA) of 23-32 weeks who received caffeine treatment were included in this study with the following exclusion criteria: incomplete clinical data, insufficient ND follow-up and transfer of infants to other facilities.
Interventions: Information on the administration of Caffeine Citrate injection USP and Caffeine Citrate oral solution (20 mg/ml equivalent to 10 mg caffeine base) including duration of treatment were obtained from individual chart reviews.
Primary outcome measure: Normal and adverse (mild/moderate, severe) ND outcome.
Results: Duration and starting point (early versus late) of caffeine treatment were not associated with ND
outcome; adjusted for GA, head ultrasound (HUS) results and gender. The only significant predictor of ND outcome
was GA.
Conclusion: Gestational age (GA) seems to have more of an influence on ND outcome than caffeine citrate
treatment regardless of duration (i.e., dose) and onset (early versus late) of such treatment.