Call us to learn more and find out if your baby is eligible to join!
608-228-4940
We invite your child to take part in a research study about how children’s visual function is related to their future development. In other words, we are trying to identify the link between the eyes and the brain. We invite your child to take part in this study if your child has a history of hypoxemic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is a type of brain injury at birth.
Your child may be eligible if they:
- Are 0-36 months old with a history of HIE
- Are currently a patient in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at American Family Children’s Hospital (AFCH) or Meriter Hospital, Inc. OR are a patient at the UW Health Kids Newborn Follow-Up (NBFU) Clinics located at Waisman Center and American Family Children’s Hospital Specialty Clinics
- Have at least one parent or legal guardian who is able to complete the consenting process in English
We invite you to help us make new discoveries!
Background:
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a common cause of brain injury in newborns, affecting approximately 20,000 newborns in the US each year. Recognizing signs of HIE can be challenging, which can result in missed or delayed diagnosis in some newborns.
Recent studies have shown that eye injury is common in babies with HIE and may be related to neurodevelopmental (motor, behavioral or cognitive) delays later in life.
The purpose of this research study is to gather more information on how eye injury is related to a baby’s future development and see if eye function and brain test results can be used, along with current measures, to better diagnose and treat babies with HIE. We hope that information from this research may lead to improved care in the future for babies with HIE by diagnosing them early in life, leading to better developmental outcomes.
Study Activities:
We will perform up to two eye exam sessions to learn about your child’s eye and brain functioning. Each eye exam session involves two eye tests and will last about an hour. During each of the eye exam sessions, your child will have two eye exams performed on each eye using a non-invasive handheld device that does not require eye drops or sedating medications.
During the eye tests, a member of the research team will use a handheld device to expose your child’s eyes to a flashing light.
If your child participates in the study while they are in the NICU, they will have their eyes examined twice by a member of the research team. The first exam will occur when your child is around 1-3 days old, and the second exam will happen when your child is about 1 week old.
If your child enters the study after they are discharged from the NICU, the research team will ask you to come to the UW Health Kids Newborn Follow-Up (NBFU) Clinics located at Waisman Center and American Family Children’s Hospital Specialty Clinics for a study visit. The study visits will be scheduled within approximately one month of your child’s 3-month, 9-month, 18-month, or 30-month clinic visits. This visit may be scheduled directly after your regularly scheduled appointment, if you prefer. During this study visit, the eye exam session will be performed. If we are not able to complete the eye exam session at their initial appointment, we may ask to schedule a follow-up appointment to retest your child’s eyes.
We will also collect information from your child’s medical records related to their birth, as well as their 3-month, 9-month, 18-month, and 30-month Newborn Follow-up Clinic visits.
We expect that your child will be in this research study for up to 36 months.
Compensation:
Families will receive $200 for completing eye exams.
Our Team
This study is led by Dr. Pelin Cengiz. We invite you to explore our website to learn more about who we are and what we do!
Interested?
Contact a study coordinator!
Email: researchnurses@pediatrics.wisc.edu
Phone: 608-228-4940
For more information about how testing is performed:
Download the study brochures here (PDF):
For babies affected by HIE study pamphlet For well babies study pamphlet
PI: Pelin Cengiz, MD
Keywords: Infant and Child Development, Vision