Measurement of tissue oxygenation index during the first three days in premature born infants.

No normal values of tissue oxygenation index (TOI) of the brain are known regarding premature born infants. We measured TOI, a measure for the cerebral hemoglobin oxygen saturation, on the head of 15 preterm infants with a median postmenstrual age of 28 weeks (interquartile range (IQR) between 26-29 weeks) with spatially resolved spectroscopy (NIRO 300, Hamamatsu®) during the first three days of life. Infants with intra-ventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leucomalacia before the first measurement, as shown by ultrasound, were excluded. The first measurement was done within the first 6 hours of life, the second and third measurement at, respectively, 24 and 48 hours after this first measurement. The mean TOI was calculated if saturation did not change by more than 5% for at least 30 minutes. Other parameters measured were PaO2, PCO2, pH, mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, hemoglobin, glycemia and peripheral oxygen saturation.