[One year's experience with mechanical ventilation in newborn infants (author's transl)]

During the first year of newborn intensive care at the Landeskinderkrankenhaus Linz/Donau there were 80 cases of artificial ventilation, 62 of these were Low Birth Weight Infants (LBWI). 12% of all LBWI required mechanical ventilation. 53 ventilated infants suffered from severe Hyalin Membrane Syndrome (HMS). 17 survived, 18 died of intraventricular hemorrhage and 18 died of HMS. Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia was found in all patients ventilated for more than 7 days. 5 cases of pneumothorax occurred during ventilation. Good results were obtained in cases of respiratory insufficiency other than HMS (15 cases, 12 survivors. Mortality rate of LBWI delivered in Hospitals was 9.9%, whereas 34% of the LBWI delivered at home but cared for under identical conditions in the nursery died. This difference offers good evidence for the importance of the quality of the obstetrical care for the results of newborn intensive care.