Neurobehavioral outcomes at 12 months in very preterm infants monitored with continuous glucose monitoring at birth compared with full-term infants

Very preterm (VPT, ≤ 32 weeks gestational age) newborns often experience neurodevelopmental delays or impairments. Early detection of these difficulties may improve long-term outcomes. Standardized clinical scales may fail to identify subtle cognitive disturbances, whereas lab-based tasks can provide greater sensitivity. In addition, VPT infants typically show greater glycaemic variability at birth than full-term (FT) infants, which may affect neurodevelopment, although previous findings are inconsistent.This study investigated whether lab-based tasks assessing visual attention and visual short-term memory, alongside standardized developmental scales, could provide a more detailed understanding of cognitive development in VPT compared with FT infants. Furthermore, by continuously measuring glucose levels during the first postnatal week using a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device, the study examined how neonatal glucose variability relates to neurodevelopmental outcomes at 12 months corrected age (CA). Sixty VPT infants were enrolled, and 43 completed the 12-month follow-up; 31 FT infants served as controls. VPT infants performed worse than FT infants across cognitive, motor, and language domains, and group differences also emerged in the computerized tasks. Notably, tighter glycaemic control at birth was associated with memory performance at 12 months CA.