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Dysphonia at 12 months corrected age in very low-birth-weight-born children

Lars Garten1, Angela Salm, Jochen Rosenfeld

  • 1Department of Neonatology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

European Journal of Pediatrics
|October 8, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Very low-birth-weight infants may develop persistent voice disorders. Difficult intubation was a key risk factor for dysphonia at 1-year follow-up in these vulnerable newborns.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal care
  • Pediatric otolaryngology
  • Speech and language pathology

Background:

  • Preterm infants, especially those requiring mechanical ventilation and multiple intubations, are susceptible to laryngeal injuries.
  • Previous research primarily focused on acute injuries diagnosed neonatally, overlooking long-term voice outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of voice disorders (dysphonia) in very low-birth-weight (<1,500 g) infants at 1-year corrected age.
  • To identify clinical risk factors associated with persistent dysphonia in this population.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective case-control study of 843 very low-birth-weight infants born between January 1998 and May 2006.
  • Screening for dysphonia at 1-year corrected age, comparing cases with matched controls.
  • Analysis of clinical data including birth weight, gestational age, ventilation duration, intubation history, and surgical procedures.

Main Results:

  • Eighteen (2.1%) of 843 former very low-birth-weight infants exhibited persistent dysphonia at 1-year follow-up.
  • All affected infants had a birth weight below 1,000 g (extremely low-birth-weight).
  • Difficult intubation emerged as a significant predictor of subsequent dysphonia; ventilation duration and intubation numbers were not differentiating factors.

Conclusions:

  • Persistent dysphonia is a notable long-term consequence for extremely low-birth-weight infants.
  • Voice disorders should be considered in the follow-up assessments of extremely immature infants.
  • Early identification and management of risk factors like difficult intubation may mitigate long-term vocal impairments.

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