Table IV.
Baseline infant characteristics by 36-week brain MRI injury score
| Characteristic | Overall* | 36-wk MRI brain abnormality score | P value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal (0-2) | Mild (3-6) | Moderate (7-10) | Severe (11+) | |||
| n | 220 | 60 (27%) | 133 (60%) | 23 (10%) | 4 (1.8%) | |
| Gestational age at birth, n (%) | .09 | |||||
| 24 wk | 45 (20%) | 7 (16%) | 31 (69%) | 5 (11%) | 2 (4.4%) | |
| 25 wk | 60 (27%) | 16 (27%) | 38 (63%) | 5 (8.3%) | 1 (1.7%) | |
| 26 wk | 62 (28%) | 18 (29%) | 37 (60%) | 7 (11%) | 0 (0%) | |
| 27 wk | 53 (24%) | 19 (36%) | 27 (51%) | 6 (11%) | 1 (1.9%) | |
| Mean (SD) wk | 26.0 (1.1) | 26.2 (1.0) | 25.9 (1.1) | 25.9 (1.1) | 25.5 (1.5) | .27 |
| Birth weight, mean (SD) g | 827 (180) | 905 (186) | 799 (166) | 773 (198) | 878 (148) | .01 |
| Multiple gestation | .72 | |||||
| Yes | 53 (24%) | 15 (28%) | 32 (60%) | 5 (9.4%) | 1 (1.9%) | |
| No | 167 (76%) | 45 (27%) | 101 (60%) | 18 (11%) | 3 (1.8%) | |
| Sex | .42 | |||||
| Female | 110 (50%) | 36 (33%) | 56 (51%) | 15 (14%) | 3 (2.7%) | |
| Male | 110 (50%) | 24 (22%) | 77 (70%) | 8 (7.3%) | 1 (0.9%) | |
| Head circumference <10th percentile | .79 | |||||
| Yes | 42 (20%) | 13 (31%) | 24 (57%) | 4 (9.5%) | 1 (0%) | |
| No | 173 (80%) | 46 (27%) | 106 (61%) | 18 (10%) | 3 (2.4%) | |
| Weight <10th percentile | .53 | |||||
| Yes | 29 (13%) | 10 (34%) | 16 (55%) | 3 (10%) | 0 (0%) | |
| No | 191 (87%) | 50 (26%) | 117 (61%) | 20 (10%) | 4 (2.1%) | |
| Antenatal steroids, n (%) | .32 | |||||
| Yes | 205 (93%) | 54 (26%) | 126 (61%) | 22 (11%) | 3 (1.5%) | |
| No | 15 (6.8%) | 6 (40%) | 7 (47%) | 1 (6.7%) | 1 (6.7%) | |
| Apgar at 5 min <5, n (%) | .10 | |||||
| Yes | 39 (18%) | 54 (30%) | 107 (59%) | 18 (10%) | 1 (0.6%) | |
| No | 180 (82%) | 6 (15%) | 25 (64%) | 5 (13%) | 3 (7.7%) | |
| Treatment assignment | .31 | |||||
| Epo | 110 (50%) | 31 (28%) | 67 (61%) | 12 (11%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Placebo | 110 (50%) | 29 (26%) | 66 (60%) | 11 (10%) | 4 (3.6%) | |
| Baseline Epo level, median (IQR) | 8.7 (4.5, 22.6) | 11.3 (4.9,18.4) | 7.4 (4.3,19.0) | 8.9 (4.9, 39.2) | 44.9 (30.6, 56.3) | .28 |
*
The values for percentages in this column refer to the totals in that column while the percentages in the corresponding rows are based on the numbers of the MRI scores from normal to severe in the row.