Mortality and Neurologic, Mental, and Psychomotor Development at 2 Years in Infants Born Less Than 27 Weeks’ Gestation: The Leiden Follow-Up Project on Prematurity

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Abstract
Objective. To determine the outcome of infants with a gestational age (GA) Design. Regional, prospective study; part of the Leiden Follow-Up Project on Prematurity. Setting. Three health regions in The Netherlands. Patients. A total of 266 live born infants (1996/1997) with GA Main outcome measures. Neurologic examination (according to Hempel) and assessment of mental and psychomotor development using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development I, at the corrected age of 2 years. Results. Mortality was 35% (16 of 46) Conclusions. Mortality and neonatal morbidity were higher in infants with GA <27 weeks compared with infants born between 27 and 32 weeks. The high adverse outcome of infants <25 weeks suggests that one should carefully weigh whether or not to aggressively resuscitate and treat these extremely premature infants.