The survival rate of extremely preterm infants improved over the last years as a result of a better prenatal and neonatal care mainly due to a greater use of antenatal steroids, appropriate management in the delivery room and in the initial care, surfactant therapy, and better modalities of assisted ventilation. However, this improvement in survival has not been associated with an equal reducti...

There are special challenges in implementing parenteral nutrition (PN) in paediatric patients, which arises from the wide range of patients, ranging from extremely premature infants up to teenagers weighing up to and over 100 kg, and their varying substrate requirements. Age and maturity-related changes of the metabolism and fluid and nutrient requirements must be taken into consideration along...

AIMS To study various aspects of treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in a Swedish population of extremely preterm infants born before 27 weeks of gestation. METHODS A national, prospective and population-based study was performed in Sweden from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2007. The criteria for the treatment of ROP accorded with the recommendations of the Early Treatment for Retinopat...

The definition of a premature infant includes any infant born less than 37 completed weeks of gestation (Beck et al., 2009). This can be further divided into extremely, early and late preterm birth with those infants being born before 26 weeks of gestation being regarded as extremely preterm, between 26 and 34 weeks of gestation regarded as early preterm and those born between 34 and 37 weeks r...

Fetal life elapses in a relatively low oxygen environment. Immediately after birth with the initiation of breathing, the lung expands and oxygen availability to tissue rises by twofold, generating a physiologic oxidative stress. However, both lung anatomy and function and the antioxidant defense system do not mature until late in gestation, and therefore, very preterm infants often need respira...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to compare growth and body composition of late preterm infants to that of extremely preterm and full-term infants. METHODS Observational longitudinal study. Forty-nine late preterm infants and 63 extremely preterm infants were included in the study. Forty healthy, full-term, breast-fed infants were enrolled as a reference group. Anthropometric parameters a...

OBJECTIVES This study was undertaken to evaluate physician counselling practices and resuscitation decisions for extremely preterm infants in countries of the Pacific Rim. We sought to determine the degree to which physician beliefs, parents' opinion and medical resources influence decision-making for infants at the margin of viability. METHODS A survey was administered to neonatologists and ...

OBJECTIVES To examine the association between occupational lifting during pregnancy and preterm birth. The risk of preterm birth was estimated for total burden lifted per day and number of medium and heavy loads lifted per day. METHODS In a study population of 62 803 pregnant women enrolled to the Danish National Birth Cohort from 1996 to 2002, the association between self-reported occupation...

As younger preterm infants are able to survive, more extremely preterm infants are at risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). To investigate the incidence, progression and risk factors of ROP in extremely preterm infants in Korea, the medical records of infants born before 25 weeks gestation were retrospectively reviewed. The criteria for laser treatment agreed with type 1 ROP as d...