Follow up of extremely low birth weight infants at the age of 8-11 years (late prognosis of perinatal factors)

Thirty-four long-term survivors of a five-year period (1977-1981) weighing 1000 g or less at birth were followed-up at 8-11 years of age. Fifty per cent of this population was qualified as normal. The great majority of the children (24) attended normal school but 7 (20.6%) with need of special help. There were only three children (8.8%) with severe functional impairment. The rate of survival was 30% at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Department of Pediatrics, University Medical School, Debrecen at that period of time. The authors analyze in detail the connections of the perinatal events and the outcome. While survival was influenced primarily by hemorrhagic complications beyond immaturity, the long-term prognosis depended on birth asphyxia, recurrent apneic spells and requirements for oxygen therapy.