Diagnostic Utility of Aquaporin-4 blood level in Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy

Abstract

Background: hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy is one of the most important diseasesin neonates.Objective: to evaluate the use of the blood level of aquaporin-4 in diagnosis ofhypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in neonates, and to determine the severity ofhypoxia.Methods: case control study, carried out on 40 hypoxic neonates, sample (1) at age of2 days while sample (2) at age of (7) days and 40 samples from healthy control. Thecollected blood samples were used to measure the aquaporin-4 level. Clinicalneurological examination was done to detect patients with HIE.Results: there was a statistically significant higher increase of AQP4 in cases thancontrols and a significant increase of it from 2nd day to 7th day, all cases had delayedcrying after birth and most of them were hypotonic and most of them had convulsions,most of cases had convulsions highly significant correlation between Aquaporin 4level and the severity of ischemic hypoxic encephalopathy in neonates either at 2 or 7days of age.Conclusion: it is found that, hypoxia leads to an increase in serum Aquaporin-4 level,serum Aquaporin-4 level could be used as early predictor in diagnosis of hypoxicischemic encephalopathy, and serum Aquaporin-4 level in differentiation betweengrades of hypoxia gives us better sensitivity and specificity.