Short-termcomplicationsoftheprematureinfant..doc

Short-term complications of the premature infant AuthorGeorge T Mandy, MD Section EditorLeonard E Weisman, MD Deputy EditorMelanie S Kim, MD Disclosures All topics are updated as new evidence becomes available and our?peer review process?is complete. Literature review current through:?May 2013.?|?This topic last updated:?四月 2, 2013. INTRODUCTION?—?Prematurity is defined as a birth that occurs before 37 completed weeks (less than 259 days) of gestation. It is associated with about one-third of all infant deaths in the United States and accounts for approximately 45 percent of children with cerebral palsy, 35 percent of children with vision impairment, and 25 percent of children with cognitive or hearing impairment. Complications of prematurity are the underlying reasons for the higher rate of infant mortality and morbidity in preterm infants compared to full term infants. The risk of complications increases with increasing immaturity. Thus, infants who are extremely premature, born at or before 25 weeks of gestation, have the highest mortality rate (about 50 percent) and if they survive, are at the greatest risk for severe impairment. Complications of the premature infant are divided into short-term complications (eg, respiratory and cardiovascular complications), which occur in the neonatal period, and long-term sequelae (eg, neurodevelopmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy) in patients who survive and are discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) [1]. Short-term complications increase the risk of long-term sequelae. Short-term complications of prematurity will be reviewed here. The long-term complications and the long-term health care needs of premature survivors are discussed separately. (See?Long-term complications of the premature infant.) DEFINITIONS?—?Different degrees of prematurity are defined by gestational age (GA) or birth weight. The classification based upon GA is as follows: Late preterm birth – GA between 34 and less than 37 wee