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Decisions and outcome for infants born near the limit of viability
Fahad Al Hazzani1, Saleh Al Alaiyan1, Mohammed Bin Jabr1
1Department of Pediatrics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Saudi Arabia.
Insights
Outcomes for extremely preterm infants (23-25 weeks gestation) show low survival and high morbidity at 23 weeks. Survival and health outcomes significantly improve with advancing gestational age in these vulnerable newborns.
Area of Science:
- Neonatalogy
- Perinatology
- Pediatric Critical Care
Background:
- Decisions regarding life support for extremely preterm infants (23-25 weeks gestation) near the limit of viability vary globally.
- This study reviews resuscitation decisions, survival rates, and major neonatal outcomes for this high-risk population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the outcomes of preterm infants born between 23 and 25 weeks gestation.
- To evaluate the impact of resuscitation decisions on survival and major morbidities.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of live-born infants (23-25 weeks gestation) from 2006-2015.
- Data collected on resuscitation, survival, and neonatal morbidities including brain injury, retinopathy of prematurity, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Main Results:
- At 23 weeks gestation, 13% survived to discharge, with no survivors without major morbidity. Survival improved to 59.5% at 24 weeks and 62.5% at 25 weeks.
- Survival without major morbidity was 7.1% at 24 weeks and 28.1% at 25 weeks.
- Incidence of major morbidities varied, with higher rates of survival with one morbidity at 24 and 25 weeks compared to 23 weeks.
Conclusions:
- Survival and survival without major neonatal morbidity are critically low at 23 weeks gestation.
- Outcomes demonstrate a gradual improvement with increasing gestational age from 23 to 25 weeks.
Background:
Initiation or withholding life support at birth on infants born prematurely near the limit of viability is not an easy decision, with wide variation in practice around the world. Our aim was to review the outcome of preterm infants born near the limit of viability at 23-25 weeks gestation in our institution, with regard to resuscitation decision, survival, and major outcome measures.
Methods:
We included all live newborn infants born prematurely at 23-25 weeks gestation at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre from January 2006 to December 2015. We collected data on resuscitation decisions, survival, and major neonatal morbidities such as severe brain injury, severe retinopathy of prematurity, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Results:
Between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2015, 97 infants with a gestational age (GA) of 23-25 weeks gestation were admitted; 23, 42, and 32 infants were born at 23, 24, and 25 weeks gestation, respectively. At 23 weeks gestation, full support was initiated in 87% of patients and later on support was withheld in 17.4% of patients, finally 13% of patients survived to discharge. At 24 weeks, full support was initiated in 97.6% of patients, then withheld in 7.1% of patients, and ultimately 59.5% survived. At 25 weeks, full support was initiated in 93.8% of patients, then withheld in 15.6% of patients, and ultimately 62.5% survived. In terms of survival with and without the three major neonatal morbidities, at 23 weeks gestation, no infant survived without any morbidity as compared to 7.1% and 28.1% at 24 and 25 weeks, respectively. The incidence of survival with 1 major morbidity was 8.7%, 30.9%, and 34.4% at 23, 24, and 25 weeks, respectively, the incidence of survival with 2 major morbidities was 0%, 19%, and 0% at 23, 24, and 25 weeks, respectively, and the incidence of survival with 3 major morbidities was 4.3%, 2.4%, and 0% at 23, 24, and 25 weeks, respectively.
Conclusion:
In our patient cohort, survival and survival without major neonatal morbidity were very low at 23 weeks gestation, but it improved gradually as gestational age advanced.
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