Prenatal and postnatal factors affecting short-term survival of very low birth weight infants

Factors affecting the survival of 175 preterm infants born with body weight <1500 g were examined. The still-birth and perinatal mortality rates were 143 and 446 per 1000 births respectively; neonatal death rate was 447 per 1000 live births. Survival improved progressively with increasing gestational age, and survival was better for infants born after 27 weeks of gestation. Neither maternal nor labour and delivery variables significantly affected survival. Male infants had half the survival rate of females. Birth asphyxia, hypercapnia and respiratory distress syndrome were the most common forms of morbidity, occurring in >20% of the population. Infants with such pathology had significantly lower survival rates.Abbreviations VLBW very low birth weight - NICU neonatal intensive care units - PROM premature rupture of the membranes - RDS respiratory distress syndrome - RR relative risk - SGA small for gestational age - AGA adequate for gestational age - ELBW extremely low birth weightThe Italian Collaborative Study on Preterm Delivery was carried out by the following investigators: Maurizio Bonati, Carlo Brambilla, Fabio Colombo and Gianni Tognoni, Milan (Co-ordinating Centre); Cristina Begher, Salvatore Bottino, Umberto Faluto and Mario Maccabruni, Monza (MI); Bruno Granati and Paola Zanor, Padova, Pierangelo Burtuletti, Gabriella Manenti and Giuliana Pasinetti, Bergamo; Carlo Corchia, Sassari; Enrico Bertino, Aldo Capra, Wanda Combetto, Maria Pia Corradin, Claudio Fabris and Claudio Martano, Torino; Michele Angiolillo and Luigi Gaioni, Mantova; Rosanna Casellato and Giorgio Suppi, Treviso; Augusto Montaguti, Cesena; Susanna Martignoni and Antonio Tomassini, Varese; Paolo Bianchi and Giuliano Palmerio, Seriate (BG); Fulvia Cellani, Francesco Grossi and Vincenzo Rossi, Lodi (MI); Antonia Carlino, Crena (CR); Alessandra Favero, Stefano Quaranta and Raffaella Tornaghi, Milan; Giuseppe Assenza, Fiesole (FI); Massimo Bardi, Arturo Manzoni, Daria Mattioni and Ferruccio Pizzigoni, Trescore (BG); Mario Berzioli and Vittorio Marsoni, Montebelluna (TV); Giovanni Buzzi and Angela Tudisco, Casale Monferrato (AL); Gabriele Oppo, Arezzo; Domenico Fichera, Calcinate (BG); Giuseppe Marraro and Alberto Vecchione, Merate (CO)