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Researchers Find Method To Detect Infection Earlier In Newborns

Date:
January 11, 2001
Source:
University Of Virginia Health System
Summary:
Medical researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have developed a method that may alert physicians to early stages of severe infection in newborn infants.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Jan. 1 -- Medical researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have developed a method that may alert physicians to early stages of severe infection in newborn infants.

In this month's edition of the journal Pediatrics, two U.Va. researchers -- neonatologist Dr. M. Pamela Griffin and cardiologist Dr. J. Randall Moorman -- describe a new system for detecting subtle abnormalities of the heartbeat that may forewarn doctors about infection before the baby looks sick.

"Infection is a major cause of illness and death in newborn babies, and especially in premature infants," Griffin said. "As many as 25 percent of very premature babies in intensive care units develop serious bloodstream infections, making their death rate twice as high and hospitalizations much longer."

Griffin and Moorman suspected that closer examination of heart rate patterns or characteristics in premature or sick newborns might show changes that were too subtle to detect with heart rate monitors currently used in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Using a new kind of mathematical analysis, they found that infants did have abnormal heart rate characteristics hours before other signs of illness were evident.

"The characteristics we see in newborns who are developing infection are similar to the abnormalities we see in cases of fetal distress," Griffin said. "Our point of view is that newborns are fetuses that have graduated into a new environment and are experiencing stress from different factors, like bacterial infections, but have a similar physiological response."

The researchers worked with computer software engineers at Medical Automation Systems in Charlottesville to develop a continuous on-line monitoring procedure that requires no contact with the infant other than standard skin patches to monitor heart rate.

Griffin and Moorman studied three groups: babies showing signs of illness whose blood tested positive for infection; infants who had similar signs but had blood testing negative for infection; and a control group without signs of illness. The infants were at high risk for infection because of low birthweight, prematurity and more than two weeks' hospitalization.

"We found that abnormal heart rate characteristics preceded visible symptoms by as much as 24 hours," Moorman said. "That means something was happening early that doctors would not yet be aware of. By the time signs and symptoms show and prompt doctors to do blood tests, sepsis can have quickly developed to a severe level."

Since the published work was completed, the researchers have studied 350 infants in NICUs at U.Va. and Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, and found that the monitoring strategy developed at U.Va. was also effective at the second hospital.

Griffin and Moorman believe the earlier detection method will cut mortality and illness rates among NICU babies, in addition to saving health care dollars by shortening hospital stays. They will soon begin a multicenter clinical study of their device to monitor heart rate characteristics for purposes of seeking FDA approval.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University Of Virginia Health System. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

University Of Virginia Health System. "Researchers Find Method To Detect Infection Earlier In Newborns." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 January 2001. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010110075511.htm>.
University Of Virginia Health System. (2001, January 11). Researchers Find Method To Detect Infection Earlier In Newborns. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010110075511.htm
University Of Virginia Health System. "Researchers Find Method To Detect Infection Earlier In Newborns." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010110075511.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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