Effect of tilting on cerebral hemodynamics in preterm and term infants

Tilting is known to cause changes in hemodynamics due to hydrostatic pressu re. The present study is an analysis of changes in cerebral hemodynamics me asured by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) following tilting up and down i n preterm and term infants. A significantly different effect of tilting up in comparison to tilting down on total hemoglobin in preterm infants and on the 'hemoglobin oxygenation index' in preterm and term infants was observe d. In preterm infants, tilting up and down had a significantly different ef fect on cerebral blood volume (CBV), with an increase after tilting down an d a decrease after tilting up. In term infants, tilting had no significant effect on CBV comparing these two procedures. We think that MRS provides a good method to measure cerebral hemodynamics following tilting, whereby dif ferent reactions in infants of different postconceptional age can be observ ed. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.