Cumulative caffeine exposure predicts neurodevelopmental outcomes in premature infants
Premature infants who receive caffeine for apnea of prematurity have improved neurodevelopmental outcomes compared to untreated infants. The optimal dosing strategy for neuroprotection is unknown. We found that higher average daily exposure during the neonatal hospitalization was associated with reduced neurodevelopmental impairment at 30 months corrected age. High dose caffeine was associated with improved motor, language, and cognitive performance on the Bayley-III compared to low dose caffeine in multivariable analyses adjusted for gestational age and respiratory disease. Preterm infants may benefit from higher maintenance doses and/or from continuing caffeine beyond the period of respiratory need.
Authors
- Donna M. Ferriero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0560-9045)
- A. James Barkovich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4291-7346)
- Matthew J. Barkovich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8257-423X)
- Duan Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0550-4235)
- Kimberly N. Grelli
- Dawn Gano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4192-2362)
- Katelin Kramer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7280-0558)
- Bridget E.L. Ostrem (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2107-3930)
- Natalie Chan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5813-4779)
- Elizabeth Odell
- Fei Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1315-280X)
Institutions
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital (US)
- BC Children's Hospital (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Pediatric Research
- Published
- 2025-09-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-025-04387-1
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Neonatal Respiratory Health Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.07