Heparin Use as a Risk Factor for Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Low-Birth-Weight Infants

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Abstract
In a systematic review of data on drug use and adverse clinical events in infants with birth weights under 2000 g, we observed an association between germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage and the use of heparin to maintain the patency of vascular catheters. Sixty-six infants with germinal-matrix (periventricular) or intraventricular hemorrhage or both (cases) were matched with 254 infants with other conditions (controls), and analysis, taking the matching factors into account, yielded an odds ratio of 14.0 (95 percent confidence interval, 5.4 to 34). When potential confounding factors were taken into account, the odds ratio was 3.9 (1.4 to 11). The association did not appear to vary according to the severity of hemorrhage or to the method of administration or dose of heparin.