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Surfactant era (1990–2002) 2-year outcomes of infants less than 1500 g from a Community Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Journal of Perinatology volume 26, pages 605–613 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To report Bayley scores of 572 twenty-four-month corrected age infants whose birth weights (BWs) were less than 1500 g cared for in a Community Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) between 1990 and 2002 when surfactant was routinely used.

Study design:

Survival, ‘normal’ defined as both Mental Developmental Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI)>84, MDI>69 and MDI>84 were analyzed by gestational age (GA) and BW. Comparisons were made between infants born pre- and post-1996 when high-frequency oscillatory ventilation came into frequent use, Medicaid and non-Medicaid infants, multiples and singletons, outborn and inborn infants, boys and girls and infants with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and those appropriate for gestational age (AGA).

Results:

There was a correlation between GA and BW and improving outcomes. Scores do not approach those of normal standardization sample populations (60% for ‘normal’, 68% for MDI>84 and 95% for MDI>69) until 1400 g and 30 weeks. Medicaid, outborn and IUGR infants, and boys did worse in some aspects.

Conclusion:

There was a correlation between both GA and BW and improving outcomes. Availability of these developmental data on a laminated pocket card can facilitate presentation of outcome experience to families by pediatric and obstetric caregivers.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Joan Hodgman for her extensive encouragement and reviews of the manuscript, Dr Maureen Hack for review of the data, Dr Richard Powers for review of the manuscript and Jie Zhang, MS, Stanford Department of Statistics, for her valuable assistance.

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  1. Good Samaritan Hospital, San Jose, CA, USA

    D Heicher Conom, C Thomas, J Evans & K I Tan

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  1. D Heicher Conom
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Correspondence to D Heicher Conom.

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Conom, D., Thomas, C., Evans, J. et al. Surfactant era (1990–2002) 2-year outcomes of infants less than 1500 g from a Community Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. J Perinatol 26, 605–613 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211568

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