Mortality Risk Factors in Preterm Infants Treated with High-Frequency Jet Ventilation

High-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) has been used in conjunction with conventional ventilation for premature infants with respiratory failure. We sought to identify parameters that were associated with mortality in subjects who underwent HFJV.

Subjects were enrolled if birthweight was ≤ 2,000 g and they were ≤ 34 weeks gestational age. Subjects were excluded if they received HFJV at the time of admission because we aimed to study subjects who failed conventional ventilation. Subject demographics, ventilator parameters, and laboratory data were extracted and analyzed. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to assess differences in continuous variables, and the chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used for categorical variables between the groups. To assess variables that were predictive of mortality, we used both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Independent predictors of mortality were identified and used to create a multivariate risk score. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to evaluate the predictive accuracy of the multivariate risk score.

A total of 53 premature subjects (n = 37 male) were studied, of whom 39 (74%) survived to discharge or transfer back to referring hospital. In the univariate model, female sex, older gestational age, higher birthweight, HFJV peak inspiratory pressure at 1 h, and oxygen saturation index at 4 h were associated with mortality. In the final multivariate logistic regression model, female sex (odds ratio 4.1, 95% CI 1.2-19.8, P = .044), closed ductus arteriosus (odds ratio 7.7, 95% CI 1.3-39.5, P = .016), and oxygen saturation index > 5.5 (odds ratio 6.0, 95% CI 1.5-28.3, P = .02) were independent predictors of mortality.

We identified that oxygen saturation index > 5.5 after 4 h of HFJV, female sex, and closed ductus arteriosus were independent predictors of mortality.