Survivors of neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation at school age: unusual findings on intelligence testing

Data are presented on lr children who received extracorporeal membrane oxyg enation (ECMO) in the neonatal period for persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN). These children are being followed as part of a larger program of f ollow-up research on children who have been treated for PPHN with several t reatment methods. On intelligence testing at ages 5 to 8 years, these lr ch ildren had unusual patterns of results. A higher-than-predicted percentage of the ECMO survivors had discrepancies between their Verbal and Performanc e IQ and a much-higher-than-predicted percentage had areas of unusual stren gth or weakness on their IQ subtest scores. Also, there was a significant c orrelation between the amount of time a child received ECMO and the child's Performance IQ: the longer the child received ECMO, the higher the Perform ance IQ, While findings of unusual weaknesses or deficits on intelligence t esting at school age in children who have been severely ill in the neonatal period are not unusual, findings of high scores and areas of strength are not easily explained, particularly when these findings seem to relate to an invasive treatment like ECMO, Similar findings have been reported in two o ther small studies, which suggest that the impact of ECMO on the developing infant brain may not be purely detrimental.