Peripheral Neutrophil Count and Respiratory
Failure in Preterm Infant

Lee, Kum Joo; Yun, Soo Young; Lee, Ran; Hean, Jae Ho; Jung, Ghee Young; Park, Jin Hee; Park, Young Sun

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Pediatric Society 2002;45(5):596-602.
Published online May 15, 2002.

Peripheral Neutrophil Count and Respiratory Failure in Preterm Infant

Kum Joo Lee¹, Soo Young Yun¹, Ran Lee¹, Jae Ho Hean¹, Ghee Young Jung¹, Jin Hee Park², Young Sun Park²

¹Department of Pediatrics, St. Francisco Hospital, Seoul, Korea
²Donga Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Seoul, Korea

조산아에서 말초혈액 중성구수와 호흡 부전증과의 연관성

이금주^¹^, 윤수영^¹^, 이란^¹^, 현재호^¹^, 정귀영^¹^, 박진희^²^, 박영선^²

^¹방지거병원 소아과
^²동아수리과학연구소

Correspondence:
Kum Joo Lee, Email: pediatia@hanmail.net

Abstract

Purpose
: The purpose of this study was to analyze the association of peripheral neutrophil count with the development of respiratory failure in preterm infants.
Methods
: A retrospective study was conducted from January 1993 to December 1999 on 44 preterm infants, who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of St. Francisco hospital. Preterm infants(birth weight 500 to 1,350 gm) who had a complete blood count obtained within 2 hours after delivery. Patients in the lowest of neutrophil count(early neutropenia, <1.0?09/L) were compared with patients in the remaining group.
Results
: Low neutrophil count were transient in early neutropenia group. The concentration the circulating neutrophil count rose from 0.85?.11?09/L at average of 2 hours after delivery to 5.3?.7?09/L at 24 hours after delivery in the early neutropenia group and from 3.6?.6?09/L to 5.8?.2?09/L in the non-neutropenia group during the same time period. Compare to the non-neutropenia group, the neutropenia group had a lower birth weight(1,046.50?80.76 gm Vs 1,156.70?24.99 gm), a lower Apgar score(1 min : 3.41?.18 Vs 4.30?.46, 5 min : 5.41?.87 Vs 6.15?.95), and a higher incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia(27.27% Vs 7.0%). Patients who had early neutropenia were more likely to require mechanical ventilation, supplemental oxygen and hospital stay. Also, main effect factors for the two groups were birth weight(Odds ratio=5.457, 95 % CI=1.551-27.525), initial peripheral blood white cells(odds ratio=8.308, 95% CI=2.054-52.699), and bronchopulmonary dysplasia(odds ratio=0.099, 95% CI=0.017-0.397).
Conclusion
: A low count of neutrophil in the systemic circulation of premature infants within 2 hours of birth is associated with more severe respiratory distress.

Key Words: Neutrophil count, Neutropenia, Respiratory failure, Bronchopulmonary dysplasia