Neonatal outcomes of very preterm infants from a neonatal intensive care center

Wei-Qin Zhou, Ya-Bo Mei, Xiao-Ying Zhang, Qiu-Ping Li, Xiang-Yong Kong, Zhi-Chun Feng

Beijing, China

Author Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, BaYi Children's Hospital Affiliated to the Clinical Medical College of the General Hospital of Beijing Military Region, Southern Medical University, Beijing, China (Zhou WQ, Mei YB, Zhang XY, Li QP, Kong XY, Feng ZC)

Corresponding Author: Zhi-Chun Feng, Department of Pediatrics, BaYi Children's Hospital Affiliated to the Clinical Medical College of the General Hospital of Beijing Military Region, Southern Medical University, 5 Nanmencang Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100700, China (Tel: 86-10-66721786; Fax: 86-10-64063099; Email: fengzhichun81@sina.com)

doi: 10.1007/s12519-013-0445-x

Background: Information about clinical outcomes of very preterm (VPT) infants in tertiary neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting is scant in China. This study aimed to investigate the mortality and morbidity of VPT infants admitted to BaYi Children's Hospital, which serves as a NICU referral center for the city of Beijing, China.

Methods: Retrospectively collected perinatal/neonatal data on all admissions of infants born at <32 weeks of gestational age and subsequently admitted to the VPT-NICU from clinical records between October 2010 and September 2011.

Results: Totally 729 infants were identified. 90% of VPT infants were outborn. The overall survival of the infants to discharge was 92%, which increased with increasing gestational age (range from 69% at <28 weeks to 99% at 31 weeks). The incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia was 4%, retinopathy of prematurity requiring treatment 2%, intraventricular hemorrhage III-IV 6%, and periventricular leukomalacia 2%. 10% of the VPT infants had a major morbidity at discharge.

Conclusions: The outcomes of the VTP infants at this referral NICU were comparable to those in tertiary centers in developed countries. The most common complications were lower than those in other cohorts. Accordingly, high-volume NICU may minimize the adverse effects of VPT infants' transport.

Key words: morbidity; mortality; transport; very preterm

World J Pediatr 2014;10(1):53-58