Abstract Background The impact of neonatal hypoglycemia on neurodevelopment in late preterm infants is not well established. We aimed to compare neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18–24 months’ corrected age in a subgroup of late preterm infants who were either euglycemic or hypoglycemic during the initial 24 h of life. Methods We conducted a multicenter, prospective cohort study of a subgroup of late preterm infants (≥35 weeks’ gestation and ≥2000 g) who underwent risk-based screening for hypoglycemia in the newborn nursery. Infants were categorized into hypoglycemic and euglycemic cohorts. Neurodevelopment was evaluated at 18–24 months’ corrected age using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Fourth Edition. Results Among 128 infants, no significant differences were observed in neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18–24 months’ corrected age between hypoglycemic and euglycemic cohorts. These findings were consistent across cognitive, motor, language, social-emotional, and adaptive behavior domains, even after adjusting for key confounders. Subgroup analyses for severe (<36 mg/dL) and recurrent (≥3 episodes) hypoglycemia did not show any differences in neurodevelopmental outcome. Conclusion Transient neonatal hypoglycemia in late preterm infants, when identified and managed using the American Academy of Pediatrics’ operational thresholds, was not associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18–24 months’ corrected age. Impact This is one of the few prospective multicenter studies assessing neurodevelopmental outcomes following neonatal hypoglycemia, focused specifically on late preterm infants. Hypoglycemia in late-preterm infants showed no impact on neurodevelopment at 18–24 months. Multicenter design and blinded assessments ensured strong study validity. The study adds population-specific evidence to the existing literature dominated by mixed gestational-age cohorts. Findings support the safety of American Academy of Pediatrics screening guidelines and treatment protocols for managing neonatal hypoglycemia in the newborn nursery.
Balasundaram et al. (Sat,) studied this question.