Follow-up of Inflammatory Responses and Multiorgan Outcomes FoLlowing Neonatal Brain injurY

Babies who have brain injury also frequently have involvement of their kidneys, lung and heart. Although clinical care in the neonatal period is well defined there are few guidelines and evidence for developmental, heart and kidney followup in childhood. The investigators aim to develop and implement guidelines for health care workers and families on Followup after Neonatal Brain Injury. Inflammation is an important factor in brain injury of newborns and also affects their heart lungs and other parts of their body. The investigators will use tests from the newborn period to predict outcome and help parents with planning health needs for their baby rather than waiting until any issues arise later on. By understanding inflammation the investigators can find methods to decrease the negative effects and improve outcomes in the future for babies and families.

Neonatal brain injury is an important cause of neonatal death and disability such as cerebral palsy. Perinatal global hypoxic ischemic associated with Neonatal Encephalopathy (NE) results in multi-organ dysfunction which may persist in later childhood. In addition perinatal inflammation has been associated with neonatal brain injury and implicated in adult neuropsychiatric conditions. The investigators aim to examine multi-organ dysfunction in early childhood in children who had NE by examining detailed cardiac, renal, neurological, haematological and neurodevelopmental outcomes. The investigators have previously defined detailed multi organ dysfunction (MOD) in this cohort in the neonatal period in infants with NE including organ outcomes as well as serum, urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. They are now age-appropriate for detailed neurocognitive assessment and correlation with these biomarkers and the investigators plan to compare with age- matched controls. Immunological markers such as the inflammasome and microRNAs are altered in the neonatal period and may persist in early childhood. The investigators will modify negative inflammatory responses in vitro with specific antagonists as well as correlating these immune biomarkers with outcomes. Quantifying multiorgan dysfunction in the neonatal period to ensure appropriate follow-up of all organs is merited. This would help in advanced clinical planning and long term follow up. In addition, understanding, the immune response in these children with NE and exploring systemic inflammation holds promise for future development of immunomodulatory adjunctive therapies and biomarkers to predict outcomes.