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This study aimed to determine if time to achieve full enteral feeding (TFF) directly impacted long-term neurodevelopmental delay (NDD) and whether long-term postnatal growth failure (PGF) was a mediator of this association in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. Using prospectively collected cohort data from the Korean Neonatal Network, we included eligible VLBW infants who achieved TFF at least once and classified enrolled infants into four groups using exposure severity (P1 to P4 as TFF < 16, 16–30, 31–45, and > 45 postnatal days, respectively). After adjusting for confounding variables, survival without NDD was significantly decreased in P4 infants compared with that in P2 infants. P1 infants had a lower risk of weight and height PGF than P2 infants; however, P4 infants had higher risks of height and head circumference PGF than P2 infants. Weight and height PGF were significantly associated with an increased risk of NDD. In mediation analysis, early and delayed TFF revealed direct positive and negative impacts, respectively, on the risk of NDD without mediation by PGF. TFF impacted survival without NDD, and PGF did not mediate this association in VLBW infants. Additionally, these results can be translated into evidence-based quality improvement practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the outcomes of very low birth weight infants (VLBWIs) following maternal mid-trimester prolonged preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and subsequent early pulmonary hypertension (PH).Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: A nationwide web-based registry of VLBWIs from 67 neonatal intensive care units.Patients: VLBWIs registered on the Korean Neonatal Network and born between 23 and 34 gestational weeks.Methods: VLBWIs exposed to maternal PPROM prior to 25 gestational weeks and lasting ≥7 days (PPROM25, n = 402) were matched 1:1 with infants not exposed or exposed within 24 h to PPROM (CON, n = 402), using propensity score matching. The PPROM25 group was subdivided into PPROM25 groups with or without early PH, defined as exposure to inhaled nitric oxide or other pulmonary vasodilators to treat PH within 3 days of life. Clinical variables and major outcomes were compared, and risk factors for mortality and morbidities were analyzed.Results: Of 1790 infants with maternal PPROM, the PPROM25 group comprised 402 (22.5%) infants. Survival rates were similar between the CON and PPROM25 groups (71.6% vs 74.4%); however, the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) differed (47.8% and 60.2%, p < .05). Infants in the PPROM25 group with early PH had higher mortality (55.6%) and more severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) (31.7%) than infants in the PPROM25 group without early PH (21.9% and 14.3%, respectively; p < .05). In multivariate analysis, lower 5 min Apgar score and the presence of oligohydramnios increased the risk of development of early PH. The presence of PPROM25 was founded to be a significant risk factor for BPD and early PH in relation to mortality and severe IVH, respectively.Conclusions: In VLBWIs, prolonged exposure to maternal mid-trimester PPROM increased the risk of BPD. Subsequent early PH immediately after birth increased mortality and severe IVH, thus, requires special attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the role of cesarean section (CS) in mortality and morbidity of very-low-birth-weight infants (VLBWIs) weighing less than 1500 g. This nationwide prospective cohort study of the Korean Neonatal Network consisted of 9,286 VLBWIs at 23–34 gestational weeks (GW) of age between 2013 and 2017. The VLBWIs were stratified into 23–24, 25–26, 27–28 and 29–34 GW, and the mortality and morbidity were compared according to the mode of delivery. The total CS rate was 78%, and was directly proportional to gestational age. The CS rate was the lowest at 61% in case of infants born at 23–24 GW and the highest at 84% in VLBWIs delivered at 29–34 GW. Contrary to the significantly lower total mortality (12%) and morbidities including sepsis (21%) associated with CS than vaginal delivery (VD) (16% and 24%, respectively), the mortality in the 25–26 GW (26%) and sepsis in the 27–28 GW (25%) and 29–34 GW (12%) groups were significantly higher in CS than in VD (21%, 20% and 8%, respectively). In multivariate analyses, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for mortality (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.89–1.25) and morbidity including sepsis (OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.98–1.27) were not significantly reduced with CS compared with VD. The adjusted ORs for respiratory distress syndrome (1.89, 95% CI 1.59–2.23) and symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus (1.21, 95% CI 1.08–1.37) were significantly increased with CS than VD. In summary, CS was not associated with any survival or morbidity advantage in VLBWIs. These findings indicate that routine CS in VLBWIs without obstetric indications is contraindicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) administration has been known as one of the most effective treatment in perinatal medicine, but the beneficial effects of ACS may vary not only gestational age, but also the quality of perinatal and neonatal care of the institution. This nationwide cohort study of the Korean Neonatal Network (KNN) data was consisted of <1,500g infants born at 23–34 weeks at 67 KNN hospitals between 2013 and 2017. The 9,142 eligible infants were assigned into two groups–group 1 and 2 <50% and ≥50% mortality rate, respectively, for 23–24 weeks' gestation–reflecting the quality of perinatal and neonatal care. Each group of infants were further stratified into 23–24, 25–26, 27–28, and 29–34 weeks of gestation age. Despite comparable ACS usage between group 1 (82%) and group 2 (81%), the benefits of ACS were only observed in group 1. In the multivariable analyses, infants of group 1 showed significant decrease in mortality and IVH at gestational age 23–24 weeks with ACS use, and the decrease was also seen in early-onset sepsis and respiratory distress syndrome at gestational age of 29–34 weeks while there were no significant decrease in group 2. In this study the overall data was congruent with the previous findings stating that ACS use decreases mortality and morbidity. These results indicate that the improved mortality of infants at 23–24 weeks' gestation reflects the quality improvement of perinatal and neonatal intensive care, which is a prerequisite to the benefits of ACS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A simple predictive indicator of mortality and morbidities is essential to assess neonatal illness severity and plan proper management. Objective: This study aimed to test the time-dependent performance of the Clinical Risk Index for Babies (CRIB) II in predicting mortality and major short-term morbidities among very low birth weight infants (VLBWIs). Methods: This population-based prospective study from 67 Korean Neonatal Network centers performed between 2013 and 2016 included 5,296 VLBWIs with CRIB II calculation and 6,398 infants with CRIB II calculation but without the base excess (CRIB II-BE). A regression model predicting time-dependent mortality and morbidities using the CRIB II score was designed. The discriminate ability of the CRIB II and CRIB II-BE scores in predicting mortality and morbidities was explored using receiver-operating characteristic analysis. Results: CRIB II performed significantly better in predicting mortality than did gestational age or birth weight alone. The time-dependent performance of CRIB II was good in the first 30 days (area under the curve [AUC], 0.8435) and at 31–90 days (AUC, 0.8458). However, it was poor after 90 days (AUC, 0.6576). Specific CRIB II cutoffs were associated with severe intraventricular hemorrhage (AUC, 0.81), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (AUC, 0.77), and mortality or major morbidities (AUC, 0.80), respectively. The model using CRIB II-BE showed similar performance in predicting mortality and morbidities to that of the CRIB II model. Conclusion: Certain CRIB II cutoffs were significantly associated with time-dependent mortality, particularly within the first 90 days after birth as well as with short-term morbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As increased oxidative stress causes increased mortality and morbidities like bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in very low birth weight infants (VLBWIs), the conundrum of improved survival but increased ROP observed with the high oxygen saturation target range of 91–95% is difficult to explain. To determine the survival rate-dependent variation in ROP treatment rate, 6292 surviving eligible VLBWIs registered in the Korean Neonatal Network were arbitrarily grouped according to the survival rate of infants at 23–24 weeks' gestation as group I (> 70%, n = 1626), group II (40–70%, n = 2984) and group III (< 40%, n = 1682). Despite significantly higher survival and lower BPD rates in group I than in groups II and III, the ROP treatment rate was higher in group I than in groups II and III. However, the adjusted odds ratios for ROP treatment were not significantly different between the study groups, and the ROP treatment rate in the infants at 23–24 weeks' gestation was 21-fold higher than the infants at ≥ 27 weeks' gestation. The controversial association between improved survival and reduced BPD reflecting quality improvement of neonatal intensive care but increased ROP treatment rate might be primarily attributed to the improved survival of the most immature infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]