J Korean Soc Neonatol.  2012 Feb;19(1):17-25. 10.5385/jksn.2012.19.1.17.

Outpatient Follow-up Status and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants

• Kim S
• Song IG
• Kim KL
• Kim YJ
• Shin SH
• Lee SH
• Lee JM
• Lee J
• Sohn JA
• Lee HJ
• Lee JA
• Choi CW
• Kim EK
• Kim HS
• Kim BI
• Choi JH

• KMID: 2099227
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5385/jksn.2012.19.1.17

Abstract

PURPOSE
To report the follow-up status and neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) survivors at 18 months' corrected age (CA). METHOD: We performed a retrospective study of 130 ELBW infants admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of Seoul National University Children's Hospital between January 2005 and May 2009. The follow-up status and neurodevelopmental outcomes were evaluated until the CA of 18 months. The assessment of outcomes included cerebral palsy, cognitive developmental delay, blindness, deafness and catch-up growth. Clinical data were collected to identify the factors influencing neurodevelopmental disability.
RESULTS
Of the 130 survivors at discharge, 122 (93.8%) participated in the follow-up at 18 months' CA. Study characteristics included a mean birth weight of 783 g and a mean gestation of 27 weeks. One hundred and eleven infants (85.4%) were evaluated for cerebral palsy (CP) and 11 (9.9%) were identified with CP. Eighty five infants (74.6%) were assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III (BSID-III) at 8 months' CA and 2 (2.4%) had a cognitive scale <70. Fifty four infants (41.9%) were assessed with BSID-III at 18 months' CA and 2 (3.7%) had a cognitive scale <70. There were 2 (1.2%) cases of blindness and the case of deafness was not present in this study. The failure of catch-up growth was seen in 40 (32.8%) infants. Severe intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, hydrocephalus and shunt insertion were the most important risk factors for neurologic abnormality.
CONCLUSION
In our institution, neurodevelopmental outcomes of ELBW survivors were comparable to recent reports from the USA. ELBW infants need to be monitored on multidisciplinary follow-up programs and more efforts should be made to improve the follow-up.

Keyword

Outcome assessment; Growth & development; Infant; Extremely low birth weight

MeSH Terms

Birth Weight
Blindness
Cerebral Palsy
Deafness
Follow-Up Studies
Hemorrhage
Humans
Hydrocephalus
Infant
Infant, Low Birth Weight
Infant, Newborn
Intensive Care, Neonatal
Leukomalacia, Periventricular
Outpatients
Pregnancy
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Survivors
Weights and Measures