Evaluation of very low birth weight infants in the neonatal intensive care unit of a university hospital

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Objective: Neonates with birth weights below 1500 g who were cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit of Fatih University Hospital were retrospectively examined in order to define their rates of morbidity and mortality. Methods: This study was conducted on 72 premature infants divided into two groups: those with birth weights below 1000 g(31 infants) and those above 1001 g(41 infants). Data on these infants were recorded and statistically evaluated. Birth weights ranged from 670 g to 1500 g and gestational weeks varied between 25 and 35 weeks. Results: In our study, the mortality rate of infants with extremely low birth weights was 7.6%. Durations of oxygen and antibiotic therapies were found to be significantly longer in the infants with birth weights of 1000 g or less (p 0.01). The most common diseases in all the groups were retinopathy of prematurity, occurring in 54.2% (n=39); broncho-pulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in 51.4% (n=37); and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in 34.5% (n=20). Incidence of chronic pulmonary disease and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) was found to be statistically significant in the infants with birth weights of 1000 g or less (p 0.01). Conclusion: Because mortality rate is low but rates of ROP, IVH and BPD are high in this unit, risk factors of these diseases should be well assessed and necessary measures should be taken in order to increase quality of life in the long term for the infants with extremely low birth weights.

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premature , infant , mortality , morbidity

Dicle Medical Journal

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Dicle Medical Journal