Preterm infants exhibit greater variability in cerebrovascular control than term infants

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) remains an important cause of infant death, particularly amongst infants born preterm. Prone sleeping is the major risk factor for SIDS and this has recently been shown to alter cerebrovascular control in term infants. As preterm infants are at greater risk for SIDS than those born at term, we hypothesized that their cerebrovascular control in the prone position would be reduced compared to term infants. Patients or Participants: 35 preterm (mean gestation 31.2?0.4wk) and 17 term (mean gestation 40.1?0.3wk) infants. Design: Infants underwent daytime polysomnography at 2-4 weeks, 2-3 months and 5-6 months post-term age. Infants slept both prone and supine and were presented with cardiovascular challenges in the form of 15? head-up tilts (HUT). Measurements and Results: Cerebral tissue oxygenation index (TOI) was recorded using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRO-200 spectrophotometer, Hamamatsu Photonics KK, Japan) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) was recorded using a FinometerTM cuff (Finapress Medical Systems, Amsterdam, The Netherlands). In the prone position TOI increased following the HUT (P