Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of participating infants.
| Term (n = 15)Mean (SD) or % | EPI (n = 75)Mean (SD) or % | |
| Gestational age at birth, weeks | 38.8 (1.0) | 26.1 (1.7)** |
| Birth weight, grams | 3177 (381) | 824 (182)** |
| PMA at MRI, weeks | 39.1 (1.0) | 38.3 (2.1) |
| Male | 53% | 4 8% |
| Maternal age | 23.7 (5.3) | 28.5 (5.7)* |
| Private medical insurance | 33% | 45% |
| Maternal education: college degree or greater | 47% | 69% |
| Maternal hypertension | 7% | 31% |
| Maternal insulin-dependent diabetes | 0% | 5%* |
| Chorioamnionitis | 0% | 44%* |
| Multiple Birth | 0% | 24%* |
| Outborn status | 0% | 9%* |
| Antenatal steroids given (full course of betamethasone) | N/A | 53% |
| SGA (<10th percentile) | 0% | 9%* |
| 5 min Apgar score | 8.9 (0.3) | 6.9 (1.9)** |
| Delivery room: Intubation at birth | N/A | 93% |
| Delivery room: Resuscitation drug given | N/A | 1% |
| Hypothermia in delivery room | N/A | 27% |
| Hyperthermia in delivery room | N/A | 7% |
| Indomethacin use for PDA treatment | N/A | 24% |
| Surgically treated PDA | N/A | 49% |
| Abnormal head ultrasound (HUS) prior to 28 days of life | N/A | 27% |
| White matter injury on HUS prior to 28 days of life† | N/A | 13% |
| Abnormal conventional MRI at term-equivalent age‡ | N/A | 61% |
| Caffeine therapy duration (days) | N/A | 51.9 (2.6) |
| Duration of breast milk use in first month of life (days) | N/A | 14.1 (1.0) |
| NEC | N/A | 4% |
| Duration of mechanical ventilation prior to 36 wks PMA (days) | N/A | 19.8 (2.7) |
*
P<0.05 and.
**
P<0.001 in comparison of term and EPI infants.
†
Defined as any presence of ventriculomegaly (with or without blood in the ventricles, blood/echodensity or cystic areas in the parenchyma, cystic periventricular leukomalacia, and/or porencephalic cyst evident on cranial US prior to 28 days of life.
‡
Defined as presence of signal abnormalities, brain atrophy, and/or abnormal gray matter or white matter maturation for age.