Perinatal factors associated with death or handicap in very preterm infants

That death or major developmental handicap is associated with prematurity and low birth weight is well recognized. The importance of other perinatal factors related to presentation and management, however, is far from certain. In an attempt to elucidate the importance of some of these factors, data from 383 live-born infants delivered at 26 to 30 weeks' gestation were analyzed. All infants were born in a tertiary perinatal unit and long-term follow-up had been carried out on the survivors for at least 1 year. A group of 39 infants who died in the neonatal period and 34 infants with long-term handicap were compared with matched normal control infants. Perinatal factors related to outcome were analyzed and it was found that, while initial poor condition at birth was correlated with death, there were few predictors of subsequent handicap. More refined methods of both prenatal and neonatal assessment are required to define these factors.