Pharyngeal biorhythms during oral milk challenge in high-risk infants: Do they predict chronic tube feeding? |
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Authors: | Kathryn A. Hasenstab Varsha Prabhakar Roseanna Helmick Vedat Yildiz Sudarshan R. Jadcherla |
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Affiliation: | 1. Innovative Infant Feeding Disorders Research Program, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA;2. Biostatistics Resource at Nationwide Children's Hospital (BRANCH), Columbus, Ohio, USA Department of Biomedical Informatics, Center for Biostatistics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA |
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Abstract: | Background Eating difficulties are common in high-risk neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) infants; mechanisms remain unclear. Crib-side pharyngo-esophageal motility testing is utilized to assess contiguous swallowing physiology, and cross-system interplay with cardio-respiratory rhythms. Aims were to: (1) identify whether distinct pharyngeal rhythms exist during oral milk challenge (OMC), and (2) develop a chronic tube feeding risk prediction model in high-risk infants. Methods Symptomatic NICU infants (N = 56, 29.7 ± 3.7 weeks birth gestation) underwent pharyngo-esophageal manometry with OMC at 40.9 ± 2.5 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA). Exploratory cluster data analysis (partitioning around k-medoids) was performed to identify patient groups using pharyngeal contractile rhythm data (solitary swallows and swallows within bursts). Subsequently, (a) pharyngeal-esophageal, cardio-respiratory, and eating method characteristics were compared among patient groups using linear mixed models, and (b) chronic tube feeding prediction model was created using linear regression. Results Three distinct patient groups were identified with validity score of 0.6, and termed sparse (high frequency of solitary swallows), intermediate, or robust (high swallow rate within bursts). Robust group infants had: lesser pharyngeal and esophageal variability, greater deglutition apnea, pharyngeal activity, and esophageal activity (all p < 0.05), but less frequent heart rate decreases (p < 0.05) with improved clinical outcomes (milk transfer rate, p < 0.001, and independent oral feeding at discharge, p < 0.03). Chronic tube feeding risk = −11.37 + (0.22 × PMA) + (−0.73 × bronchopulmonary dysplasia) + (1.46 × intermediate group) + (2.57 × sparse group). Conclusions Robust pharyngeal rhythm may be an ideal neurosensorimotor biomarker of independent oral feeding. Differential maturation of cranial nerve-mediated excitatory and inhibitory components involving foregut, airway, and cardiac rhythms distinguishes the physiologic and pathophysiologic basis of swallowing and cardio-respiratory adaptation. |
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Keywords: | bottle feeding feeding difficulties infant maturation neonatal intensive care unit pharyngo-esophageal motility |
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