July 7 2008

Infant Feature Sidebar

A Case Study
A baby was born at Kentucky Children’s Hospital at the University of Kentucky at 24 weeks gestation. He weighed 700 grams, was a single birth, and his mother was given steroids prior to delivery.

According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network database of extremely premature infants, his estimated outcomes were as follows:

Outcomes	Outcomes for all infants	Outcomes for mechanically ventilated infants
Survival	62%	64%
Survival without profound neurodevelopmental impairment	44%	46%
Survival without moderate to severe neurodevelopmental impairment	27%	29%
Death	38%	36%
Death or profound neurodevelopmental impairment	56%	54%
Death or moderate to severe neurodevelopmental impairment	73%	71%

— Source: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. Extremely Preterm Birth Outcome Data. Available at: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/org/cdbpm/pp/prog_epbo/epbo_case.cfm

“[The] infant is doing well and is now a few months old,” says Henrietta S. Bada, MD, a neonatologist at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital.