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Neurodevelopmental outcomes following neonatal late-onset sepsis and blood culture-negative conditions
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Neurodevelopmental outcomes following neonatal late-onset sepsis and blood culture-negative conditions

Sagori Mukhopadhyay, Karen M Puopolo, Nellie I Hansen, Scott A Lorch, Sara B DeMauro, Rachel G Greenberg, C Michael Cotten, Pablo J Sanchez, Edward F Bell, Eric C Eichenwald, …
Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, Vol.106(5), pp.467-473
09/2021
DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2020-320664
PMCID: PMC8292446
PMID: 33478957
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/8292446View
Open Access

Abstract

ObjectiveDetermine risk of death or neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) in infants with late-onset sepsis (LOS) versus late-onset, antibiotic-treated, blood culture-negative conditions (LOCNC).DesignRetrospective cohort study.Setting24 neonatal centres.PatientsInfants born 1/1/2006–31/12/2014, at 22–26 weeks gestation, with birth weight 401–1000 g and surviving >7 days were included. Infants with early-onset sepsis, necrotising enterocolitis, intestinal perforation or both LOS and LOCNC were excluded.ExposuresLOS and LOCNC were defined as antibiotic administration for ≥5 days with and without a positive blood/cerebrospinal fluid culture, respectively. Infants with these diagnoses were also compared with infants with neither condition.OutcomesDeath or NDI was assessed at 18–26 months corrected age follow-up. Modified Poisson regression models were used to estimate relative risks adjusting for covariates occurring ≤7 days of age.ResultsOf 7354 eligible infants, 3940 met inclusion criteria: 786 (20%) with LOS, 1601 (41%) with LOCNC and 1553 (39%) with neither. Infants with LOS had higher adjusted relative risk (95% CI) for death/NDI (1.14 (1.05 to 1.25)) and death before follow-up (1.71 (1.44 to 2.03)) than those with LOCNC. Among survivors, risk for NDI did not differ between the two groups (0.99 (0.86 to 1.13)) but was higher for LOCNC infants (1.17 (1.04 to 1.31)) compared with unaffected infants.ConclusionsInfants with LOS had higher risk of death, but not NDI, compared with infants with LOCNC. Surviving infants with LOCNC had higher risk of NDI compared with unaffected infants. Improving outcomes for infants with LOCNC requires study of the underlying conditions and the potential impact of antibiotic exposure.

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