Publications by authors named "Niels B Matthiesen"
Objectives: We aimed to study the association between early-onset neonatal infection in near-term and term children and school performance based on mandatory tests in reading and mathematics.
Methods: We conducted a nationwide register-based cohort study including all Danish near-term and term singletons born from 1997 to 2009. Early-onset infection was defined as an invasive bacterial infection during the first week of life.
Background: Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in the environment and accumulate in humans. PFAS are suspected to affect the neuropsychological function of children, but only few studies have evaluated the association with childhood attention and executive function.
Objectives: To investigate the association between intrauterine exposure to PFAS and offspring attention and executive function.
Objectives: To estimate the association between major types of congenital heart defects (CHD) and spontaneous preterm birth, and to assess the potential underlying mechanisms.
Study Design: This nationwide, registry-based study included a cohort of all singleton pregnancies in Denmark from 1997 to 2013. The association between CHD and spontaneous preterm birth was estimated by multivariable Cox regression, adjusted for potential confounders.
Background: Early measures of cognitive function are of great public health interest. We aimed to estimate the association between head circumference at birth, a measure of cerebral size, and school performance.
Methods: We conducted a nationwide cohort study of all liveborn singletons in Denmark, 1997-2005.
Background: Intellectual disability (ID) is a prevalent chronic disability affecting up to 1-3% of the general population. Small head circumference at birth, a surrogate measure of foetal cerebral growth, may be a risk factor for ID. We aimed to investigate the association between the full distribution of head circumference at birth and ID.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To estimate the association between fetal congenital heart defects (CHDs) and measures of brain size throughout pregnancy, from the end of the first trimester to birth.
Study Design: The cohort consisted of all fetuses scanned in Western Denmark in 2012 and 2013. Anthropometric measures in fetuses with isolated CHDs diagnosed within 12 months after birth were compared with those in the fetuses without CHDs.
Many paediatric clinical research studies, whether observational or interventional, have as an eventual aim the identification or quantification of causal relationships. One might ask: does screen time influence childhood obesity? Could overuse of paracetamol in infancy cause wheeze? How does breastfeeding affect later cognitive outcomes? In this review, we present causal directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to a paediatric audience. DAGs are a graphical tool which provide a way to visually represent and better understand the key concepts of exposure, outcome, causation, confounding, and bias.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Early markers of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may improve the understanding and early recognition of these disorders. We aimed to estimate the association between head circumference at birth, a measure of cerebral size at birth, and the risk of ADHD and ASD.
Methods: We present a register-based cohort study of all Danish singletons born alive between 1997 and 2013.
Background: Children with major congenital heart defects are risking impaired cerebral growth, delayed cerebral maturation, and neurodevelopmental disorders. We aimed to compare the cerebral tissue oxygenation of fetuses with major heart defects to that of fetuses without heart defects as estimated by the magnetic resonance imaging modality T2*. T2* is low in areas with high concentrations of deoxyhemoglobin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We summarize the evidence for an association between congenital heart defects and prenatal brain growth through a systematic literature review. Congenital heart defects are among the most common malformations, affecting approximately six per 1000 live births. The association between congenital heart defects and long-term neurodevelopmental disorders is well established.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Fertility treatment includes hormonal stimulation of the woman and in vitro manipulation of gametes and embryos that may influence prenatal brain development. We aimed to investigate the association between fertility treatment and childhood epilepsy, including specific types of treatment and indications, as well as subtypes of epilepsy.
Methods: In this nationwide birth cohort study, we included all pregnancies in Denmark resulting in live-born singletons, 1995-2003.
Objective: To investigate the association between specific types of fertility treatment and childhood type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Design: Nationwide birth cohort study.
Setting: Not applicable.
Background: Congenital heart defects (CHDs) have been associated with placental anomalies. The nature and the consequences of this association remain poorly understood. We aimed to estimate the associations between all major subtypes of CHD and placental weight at birth, and the association between placental weight and measures of both overall and cerebral growth in fetuses with CHD, as well.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To estimate the association between congenital heart defects (CHD) and indices of fetal growth in Down and 22q11.2 deletion syndromes.
Study Design: We established 2 Danish nationwide cohorts of newborn singletons with either Down syndrome (n = 670) or 22q11.
Parental Infertility, Fertility Treatment, and Childhood Epilepsy: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol
September 2016
Background: A few studies have indicated an increased risk of epilepsy in children conceived by fertility treatment possibly due to characteristics of the infertile couple rather than the treatment. We therefore aimed to investigate the association between parental infertility, fertility treatment, and epilepsy in the offspring, including the subtypes of epilepsy; idiopathic generalised epilepsy and focal epilepsy.
Methods: This cohort included all pregnancies resulting in liveborn singletons from the Aarhus Birth Cohort, Denmark (1995-2013).
Background: Neurodevelopmental disorders are the most common and distressful comorbidities associated with congenital heart defects (CHD). Head circumference at birth (HC), a proxy for prenatal cerebral growth, is an established risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Methods And Results: In a nationwide cohort, we included all 924 422 liveborn Danish singletons, 1997 to 2011.
Background: Previous studies indicated an association between intrauterine exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) or perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and lower birth weight. However, these perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) have to some extent been substituted by other compounds on which little is known.
Objectives: We investigated the association between specific PFAAs and birth weight, birth length, and head circumference at birth.
Background: Previous studies on the exposure to perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and female fertility have provided conflicting results. We aimed to investigate the association between several PFAAs and time to pregnancy among nulliparous women.
Methods: From 2008 to 2013, we included 1372 women from the Aarhus Birth Cohort, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, who provided data on time to pregnancy and a blood sample before 20 gestational weeks.