Includes bibliographical references. / Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) after birth is an important cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality, particularly in resource-limited regions. Therapeutic hypothermia initiated within the first 6 hours of life, in settings that can offer neonatal intensive care, is a therapy that can reduce death or severe disability in newborn infants with moderate or severe HIE. Therapeutic hypothermia has not been shown to be safe or effective in low-resource settings where neonatal intensive care is not available; however, there are situations such as in some centres in South Africa, where limited neonatal intensive care (NICU) is available against a background of moderate neonatal mortality rates, relatively low socio-economic conditions and limited capacity for long-term follow-up. In such settings, accurate case definition and early prediction of HIE and outcome may assist with the appropriate allocation of resources. The amplitude-integrated electro-encephalogram (aEEG) is an ideal tool to use for prediction of outcome and the need for cooling, but it’s availability is limited, particularly at primary and secondary hospitals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/11188 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Horn, Alan Richard |
| Contributors | Swingler, George H, Myer, Landon, Robertson, Nicola |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Format | application/pdf |
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