Longitudinal, 15-year follow-up of children born at less than 29 weeks' gestation after introduction of surfactant therapy into a region: neurologic, cognitive, and educational outcomes

Objective. To measure the primary and secondary school-age neurologic, cognitive, and educational outcomes in a cohort of extremely premature infants born after the introduction of exogenous surfactant therapy in a circumscribed region. Methods. Two hundred thirteen infants born at Results. One hundred thirty-two infants survived to school age, of whom 127 (96%) were evaluated in 1992-1995 and 126 (95%) were evaluated in 2000. Mean ages were 7.0 years at first follow-up and 14.1 years at second follow-up. At primary-school age follow-up, 19 children (15%) had cerebral palsy, 24 (19%) had a general cognitive index Conclusions. Premature infants born in the surfactant era remain at high risk of neurodevelopmental compromise. Although many of these children do well, a significant minority will require intensive special educational services through secondary school age. Pediatrics 2002; 110:1094-1102; premature infants, very low birth weight infants, follow-up studies, pulmonary surfactants, developmental disabilities.
ABBREVIATIONS. GCI, General Cognitive Index; RDS, respiratory distress syndrome; NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; SMH, Strong Memorial Hospital; IVH, intraventricular hemorrhage; CI, confidence interval. The introduction of surfactant has dramatically [...]