• Hannah C Glass, Sonia L Bonifacio, Susan Peloquin, Thomas Shimotake, Sally Sehring, Yao Sun, Joseph Sullivan, Elizabeth Rogers, A James Barkovich, David Rowitch, and Donna M Ferriero.
• Department of Neurology, University of California, Box 0663, 521 Parnassus Avenue, C-215, San Francisco, CA 94143-0663, USA. Hannah.Glass@ucsf.edu
• Neurocrit Care. 2010 Jun 1; 12 (3): 421429421-9.

BackgroundTo describe the concept, implementation, patient characteristics, and preliminary outcomes of a Neonatal Neurocritical Care Service (NNCS) recently established at the University of California, San Francisco.MethodsThe NNCS was developed to better address the special needs of neonates at risk for neurological injury. The service combines dedicated neurological care, specialized neonatal medical and nursing expertise, neuromonitoring, neuroimaging, neurodevelopmental care, and long-term follow up. Newborns evaluated by the NNCS between July 2008 and June 2009 were included in the analysis. Demographic data (gestational age at birth, sex, admission diagnosis, and reason for consult), outcome (mortality, length of stay), and neurophysiology and imaging resources were extracted from patient charts.ResultsOver the 12-month period, 155 newborns were evaluated (approximately 25% of all admissions); of these, 51 were preterm (<36 weeks gestation) and 104 were term. Approximately half were admitted for primary medical diagnoses, such as preterm birth, congenital malformations or apnea/apparent life-threatening event (ALTE), with the remainder admitted for primary neurological problems, including perinatal asphyxia, seizures/possible seizures, or congenital cerebral malformation. The most common neurological diagnoses were hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (38%) and seizure (35%). Among preterm newborns, intraventricular hemorrhage grade III and periventricular hemorrhagic infarction were most common. Mortality was approximately 20% in both preterm and term populations.ConclusionsWhile specialized neurocritical care has improved outcomes in adult populations, longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether specialized neurocritical care services will also result in improved neurodevelopmental outcomes for newborns.

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