Does the Umbilical Cord Nucleated Red Blood Cellcan Help Predict Intraventricular Hemorrhage?

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is one of the most serious complications of premature deliveries, especially in very low birth weight (VLBW) newborns. The current study compared the number of nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) in newborns with and without IVH.

This cross-sectional study was carried out on 109 VLBW neonates who were referred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Department of Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad, Iran. They were investigated to evaluate the predictive value of cord NRBC in the diagnosis of IVH. To this end, 77 neonates who had normal brain ultrasonographywere assigned to the control group and 32 newborns with IVH were allocated to the case group. The percentage of NRBC per 100 white blood cells was determined by a blood sample. These neonates underwent brain ultrasonography3-5 days after the birth; thereafter, mean NRBC/100 WBC and the absolute number of NRBC swere compared in both groups.

In the current study, the mean scores of NRBC/100 WBC and the absolute number of NRBCs in neonates with IVH were obtained as 15.19 and 2272.38/μl. In the group without IVH, these values were reported as 40.95% and 5459.17/μl, respectively (P>0.05). Based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the NRBC value does not have a diagnostic value in predicting the incidence of IVH.

As illustrated by the obtained results, the number of absolute NRBCs and the percentage of NRBC/100 WBC cannot help to predict the probability of neonatal IVH. Nonetheless, further studies are recommended in this regard.