RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Early red cell transfusion favourably alters cerebral oxygen extraction in very preterm newborns JF Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition JO Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health SP F433 OP F435 DO 10.1136/archdischild-2014-307565 VO 100 IS 5 A1 CC Andersen A1 SM Karayil A1 NA Hodyl A1 MJ Stark YR 2015 UL http://fn.bmj.com/content/100/5/F433.abstract AB Background Elevated cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction (cFTOE; ≥0.4) predicts early brain injury in very preterm infants. While blood transfusion increases oxygen-carrying capacity, its ability to improve cerebral oxygen kinetics in the immediate newborn period remains unknown.Objective To investigate the effect of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in the first 24 h of life on cFTOE in infants ≤29 weeks gestation.Methods cFTOE was calculated from cerebral tissue oxygenation index (TOI) and cutaneous oximetry measured over a 30 min epoch before and after transfusion. Infants were dichotomised according to pre-transfusion cFTOE (low <0.4 vs high ≥0.4).Results 24 babies were included, 12 in each group. Pre- and post-transfusion Hb were similar between the groups. cFTOE significantly reduced after transfusion in the high but not low-extraction group (p<0.01).Conclusions Early RBC transfusion favourably alters cerebral oxygen kinetics in infants with elevated cFTOE, showing potential for modification of the risk of hypoxic (brain) injury.