NEONATES TREATED WITH ECMO - PREDICTIVE VALUE OF EARLY CT AND US NEUROIMAGING FINDINGS ON SHORT-TERM NEURODEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME

PURPOSE: To determine if neuroimaging findings in infants who undergo extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are predictive of developmental outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At 1-2 years of age, 183 ECMO survivors (69 female, 114 male) underwent developmental examination. Neuroimaging studies obtained at time of ECMO were assigned a neuroimaging score. Neuroimaging findings were correlated with developmental outcome. RESULTS: Eighty-five infants had neuroimaging abnormalities. Development was normal in 105 infants, suspect in 37, and delayed in 41. Mean neuroimaging scores were significantly worse in survivors with delayed development (P less than or equal to .0001). The sensitivity and specificity of normal neuroimaging findings in prediction of normal outcome were 65% and 63%, respectively. Survivors with nonhemorrhagic abnormalities had a higher risk of delayed development than did those with isolated hemorrhagic abnormalities (39% vs 21%). CONCLUSION: Although they cannot be used alone to predict outcome, early neuroimaging scores can be used to assign risk categories for developmental outcome.