Intensive care for extreme prematurity--moving beyond gestational age.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Decisions regarding whether to administer intensive care to extremely premature infants are often based on gestational age alone. However, other factors also affect the prognosis for these patients.

Methods

We prospectively studied a cohort of 4446 infants born at 22 to 25 weeks' gestation (determined on the basis of the best obstetrical estimate) in the Neonatal Research Network of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to relate risk factors assessable at or before birth to the likelihood of survival, survival without profound neurodevelopmental impairment, and survival without neurodevelopmental impairment at a corrected age of 18 to 22 months.

Results

Among study infants, 3702 (83%) received intensive care in the form of mechanical

SUBMITTER: Tyson JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2597069 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature