摘要
Background: The incidence of cerebral white matter damage reported to the Aust ralian and New Zealand Neonatal Network (ANZNN) varies between neonatal intensiv e care units (NICUs). Hypothesis: Differences in the capture, storage, and inter pretation of the cerebral ultrasound scans could account for some of this variation. Methods: A total of 255 infants of birth weight < 1500 g and gestation < 32 weeks born between 1997 and 2002 and drawn equally from each of the six NICUs i n New Zealand were randomly selected from the ANZNN database. Half had early cerebral ultrasound scans previously reported to ANZNN as normal, and half had scan s reported as abnormal. The original scans were copied, anonymised, and independ ently read by a panel of three experts using a standardised method of reviewing and reporting. Results: There was considerable variation between NICUs in method s of image capture, quality, and completeness of the scans. There was only moder ate agreement between the reviewers’reports and the original reports to the ANZ NN (κ0.45-0.51) and between the reviewers (κ0.54-0.64). The reviewers report ed three to six times more white matter damage than had been reported to the ANZ NN. Conclusion: Some of the reported variation in white matter damage between NI CUs may be due to differences in capture and interpretation of cerebral ultrasou nd scans.
Background: The incidence of cerebral white matter damage reported to the Australian and New Zealand Neonatal Network (ANZNN) varies between neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) . Hypothesis: Differences in the capture,storage, and interpretation of the cerebral ultrasound scans could account for some of this variation.