Cerebral oxygenation as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy in neonatal intensive care: correlation with arterial oxygenation.

AIM: To assess correlation between cerebral oxygenation (rScO2 ), as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and arterial oxygenation (PaO2 ), as measured by arterial blood gases, in preterm neonates.

METHODS: Preterm neonates <37 weeks gestation with an indwelling arterial vascular catheter were recruited between April and August 2015 from the neonatal intensive care unit of the Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick NSW, Australia. The NIRS sensor was placed on the frontolateral aspect of the head prior to arterial gas sampling. NIRS, blood gas and clinical observation data were analysed using mixed linear modelling.

RESULTS: Twenty-two neonates between 24 and 31 weeks gestation (mean 27.6 weeks) were recruited, and 75 readings obtained. No significant correlation was identified between cerebral oxygenation (rScO2 ) and arterial oxygenation (PaO2 ) (p = 0.37). There was also no significant correlation between rScO2 and clinically relevant parameters of SaO2 (p = 0.06), SpO2 (p = 0.44) and PaCO2 (p = 0.79).

CONCLUSION: This study did not demonstrate any correlation between NIRS values and arterial oxygenation in clinically stable preterm infants. These results highlight some of the difficulties in clinical interpretation of NIRS values in neonatal intensive care, and further evaluation is needed to determine the applicability of NIRS to management of preterm infants.