Homocysteine levels in preterm infants: is there an association with intraventricular hemorrhage? A prospective cohort study.

Authors

Wendy J Sturtz, Department of Neonatology, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USAFollow
Kathleen H Leef, Department of Neonatology, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USAFollow
Amy B Mackley, Department of Neonatology, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USAFollow
Shailja Sharma, Institute of Metabolic Disease, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USAFollow
Teodoro Bottiglieri, Institute of Metabolic Disease, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USAFollow
David A Paul, Department of Neonatology, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USA, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2007

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed and is published in BMC Pediatrics Volume 7, 28 November 2007, Article number 38. The published version is available at DOI: 10.1186/1471-2431-7-38. Copyright © BioMed Central Ltd.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to characterize total homocysteine (tHcy) levels at birth in preterm and term infants and identify associations with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and other neonatal outcomes such as mortality, sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and thrombocytopenia. METHODS: 123 infants < 32 weeks gestation admitted to our Level III nursery were enrolled. A group of 25 term infants were enrolled for comparison. Two blood spots collected on filter paper with admission blood drawing were analyzed by a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Statistical analysis included ANOVA, Spearman's Rank Order Correlation and Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: The median tHcy was 2.75 micromol/L with an interquartile range of 1.34 - 4.96 micromol/L. There was no difference between preterm and term tHcy (median 2.76, IQR 1.25 - 4.8 micromol/L vs median 2.54, IQR 1.55 - 7.85 micromol/L, p = 0.07). There was no statistically significant difference in tHcy in 31 preterm infants with IVH compared to infants without IVH (median 1.96, IQR 1.09 - 4.35 micromol/L vs median 2.96, IQR 1.51 - 4.84 micromol/L, p = 0.43). There was also no statistically significant difference in tHcy in 7 infants with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) compared to infants without PVL (median 1.55, IQR 0.25 - 3.45 micromol/L vs median 2.85, IQR 1.34 - 4.82 micromol/L, p = 0.07). Male infants had lower tHcy compared to female; prenatal steroids were associated with a higher tHcy. CONCLUSION: In our population of preterm infants, there is no association between IVH and tHcy. Male gender, prenatal steroids and preeclampsia were associated with differences in tHcy levels.

Recommended Citation

Sturtz, Wendy J; Leef, Kathleen H; Mackley, Amy B; Sharma, Shailja; Bottiglieri, Teodoro; and Paul, David A, "Homocysteine levels in preterm infants: is there an association with intraventricular hemorrhage? A prospective cohort study." (2007). Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers. Paper 25.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/pedsfp/25

PubMed ID

18045460