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Published on: August 25, 2014
Outcomes of late-preterm infants: a retrospective, single-center, Canadian study
Ratchada Kitsommart1, Marianne Janes, Vikas Mahajan
1Neonatology Division, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Insights
Late-preterm infants face significantly higher risks of major morbidities and mortality compared to full-term infants. This study highlights their high-risk status, emphasizing the need for focused care strategies.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
Background:
- Late-preterm infants (born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation) represent a growing proportion of births.
- These infants are often perceived as low-risk but experience higher rates of adverse outcomes than term infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of major morbidities and mortality in inborn, late-preterm infants.
- To compare these outcomes with those of term infants during the same period.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective review of infant data from 2004 to 2008.
- Comparison of descriptive outcomes between late-preterm and term infant cohorts.
Main Results:
- 1193 late-preterm infants were compared with 8666 term infants.
- Late-preterm infants showed significantly higher rates of intensive care admission, respiratory support (including mechanical ventilation and CPAP), pneumothorax, and mortality (0.8% vs. 0.07%).
- Despite low positive culture rates (1.0%), 28.5% received antibiotics, indicating potential over-treatment.
Conclusions:
- Late-preterm infants are a high-risk group with substantially worse mortality and morbidity profiles than term infants.
- Increased gestational age correlated with decreased rates of mechanical ventilation and continuous positive airway pressure.
- The findings underscore the vulnerability of late-preterm infants and the need for targeted clinical attention.
Objective:
To study the prevalence of major morbidities and mortality of inborn, late-preterm infants. Methods. A retrospective review was conducted from 2004 to 2008. Descriptive outcomes were compared with predefined aggregate outcomes of term infants during the same period.
Results:
Data on 1193 late-preterm and 8666 term infants were compared. Majority of late-preterm infants were 36 weeks (43.6%), followed by 35 weeks (29.2%) and 34 weeks (27.2%), respectively. The prevalence of intensive care admission, respiratory support, pneumothorax, and mortality in late preterm infants was significantly higher compared with term infants. Mechanical ventilation and continuous positive airway pressure rates substantially decreased with increased gestational age. Although only 1.0% had positive cultures, 28.5% received parenteral antibiotics. The late-preterm group had a 12-fold higher risk of death with an overall mortality rate of 0.8%.
Conclusion:
This study confirmed the high-risk status of late-preterm infants with worse mortality and morbidities compared with term infants.
