We examined the perinatal events of 99 consecutive, live born ELBW infants(BW 762 +/- 143gms, GA 25.6 +/- 2.2wks) in 1993 and 1994 to assess the relationship between perinatal management and neonatal outcome. Survivors consisted of 76 infants. Significant differences between surviving and nonsurviving infants included birth weight (798.2 +/- 130g vs 643.3 +/- 117g, p<0.001), gestational age (26wks +/- 2 vs 24 +/- 2wks, p<0.001), Apgar score at 1 min (5 +/- 2 vs 3 +/- 2 p<0.001), Apgar score at 5 min (7 +/- 2 vs 5 +/- 3, p<0.001), and female sex (56% vs 23%, p<0.006).
Using ANOVA, we noted the following antenatal factors to be associated with survival; cesarean section (p<0.02), betamethasone (p<0.002), magnesium sulfate (p<0.02) and tocolysis (p<0.001). Only delivery mode was associated with specific neonatal morbidity: Infants delivered by cesarean section had a lower incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage than those delivered by the vaginal route (25% vs 56%, p<0.005).
In this population of ELBW infants, biologic imperatives of BW, GA, and sex and methods of perinatal care significantly affected survival.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Koons, A., Alizadeh, P., Hiatt, M. et al. THE INFLUENCE OF PERINATAL EVENTS ON THE NEONATAL OUTCOME OF THE EXTREMELY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT (ELBW) INFANT. 1602. Pediatr Res 39 (Suppl 4), 269 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199604001-01625
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199604001-01625