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Published on: November 20, 2015
Infection as a cause of death in the extremely-low-birth-weight infant
J E Hodgman1, L Barton, Z Pavlova
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Objective:
To determine the causes of neonatal death for extremely-low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants.
Methods:
All liveborn infants below 1000 g birth weight born from 1994 to 1998 who died and were autopsied were included. Maternal and infant characteristics, placental histology, autopsy material and culture results were obtained.
Results:
A total of 263 ELBW infants were born alive, 104 (40%) died and 44 (42%) were autopsied. Placentas were available for 41 (93%). Infection was the leading cause of death in the autopsied babies (25/44; 57%). Sixteen (64%) of these deaths occurred within the first 48 h and were classified as being due to congenital infections. Twenty-two of 41 (54%) placentas showed evidence of infection. Infection as a cause of death peaked at 22 weeks. Other causes of death were lethal anomalies (20%), respiratory distress and its complications (9%) and immaturity, intraventricular hemorrhage and other conditions (14%).
Conclusion:
Congenital infection is the leading cause of death in ELBW infants.
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