Premature infants weighing less than 1000 grams: mortality, morbidity and short-term neurologic outcome

The outcome of 60 premature infants weighing less than 1,000 g at birth and consecutively born during the years 1986 to 1988 is reported. Forty-two (70%) of them were inborn. The overall mortality rate was 42%, but only 26% in the inborn group instead of 78% in the outborn group (P less than 0.001). The mortality rate was higher for the appropriate for gestational age infants (56%) than for the growth retarded infants (14%, P less than 0.01). The main neonatal problems were the following: hyaline membrane disease (63%), patent ductus arteriosus (7%), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (8%), necrotizing enterocolitis (15%), intraventricular hemorrhages (45%) and periventricular leukomalacia (12%). Twenty percent (7/35) of the surviving infants showed abnormal neurodevelopmental outcome, with only one (3%) having major handicap. No correlation was found between gestational age and neuro-developmental outcome.