Neonatal survival and perinatal factors in infants born at 24 to 32 weeks of gestation]

Clinical associations between neonatal survival and perinatal factors were studied in very premature infants delivered at Kurashiki Central Hospital Perinatal Center during April 1979 to March 1983. The very premature singleton infants without congenital anomaly were studied in the present work, including 45 live-birth infants born at 24 to 32 weeks of gestation and weighing 590 to 2,000g at birth. The mortality rate for male infants was higher than that for female infants, but this difference was not statistically significant. The mortality rate for infants born at 28 to 32 weeks of gestation was 2.9%, and that for infants weighing 1,000g or more at birth, respectively. The cause of all these neonatal death was massive aspiration syndrome with intracranial hemorrhage, and severe neonatal asphyxia. The mortality rate for infants born at 24 to 32 weeks of gestation was 60%, and that of infants weighing 999g or less, 60%, respectively. The cause of all these neonatal deaths was respiratory distress syndrome with intracranial hemorrhage. Clinically, it was suggested that cesarean section after onset of labor, PROM, and Betamethasone prior to delivery increased the survival rate of these infants statistically significantly. The most important neonatal complication in the prognosis of very premature infants was intracranial hemorrhage. The most correlated perinatal factors of neonatal intracranial hemorrhage were one min. Apgar score and fetal lung maturation.