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Context Up-to-date information on infant survival after extremely preterm birth is needed for assessing perinatal care services, clinical guidelines, and parental counseling. Objective To determine the 1-year survival in all infants born before 27 gestational weeks in Sweden during 2004-2007. Design, Setting, and Patients Population-based prospective observational study of extremely preterm infants (707 live-born and 304 stillbirths) born to 887 mothers in 904 deliveries (102 multiple births) in all obstetric and neonatal units in Sweden from April 1, 2004, to March 31, 2007. Main Outcome Measures Infant survival to 365 days and survival without major neonatal morbidity (intraventricular hemorrhage grade Ͼ2, retinopathy of prematurity stage Ͼ2, periventricular leukomalacia, necrotizing enterocolitis, severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia). Associations between perinatal interventions and survival. Results The incidence of extreme prematurity was 3.3 per 1000 infants. Overall perinatal mortality was 45% (from 93% at 22 weeks to 24% at 26 weeks), with 30% stillbirths, including 6.5% intrapartum deaths. Of live-born infants, 91% were admitted to neonatal intensive care and 70% survived to 1 year of age (95% confidence interval [CI], 67%-73%). The Kaplan-Meier survival estimates for 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 weeks were 9.8% (95% CI, 4%-23%), 53% (95% CI, 44%-63%), 67% (95% CI, 59%-75%), 82% (95% CI, 76%-87%), and 85% (95% CI, 81%-90%), respectively. Lower risk of infant death was associated with tocolytic treatment (adjusted for gestational age odds ratio [OR], 0.43; 95% CI, 0.36-0.52), antenatal corticosteroids (OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.24-0.81), surfactant treatment within 2 hours after birth (OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.32-0.71), and birth at a level III hospital (OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.32-0.75). Among 1-year survivors, 45% had no major neonatal morbidity. Conclusion During 2004 to 2007, 1-year survival of infants born alive at 22 to 26 weeks of gestation in Sweden was 70% and ranged from 9.8% at 22 weeks to 85% at 26 weeks.

In infants with a gestational age of 22 to 25 weeks, a proactive perinatal strategy increases the number of live births and improves the infant's postnatal condition and survival without evidence of increasing morbidity in survivors up to 1 year of age.

A compilation of postmortem femoral blood concentrations of drugs is presented. The samples are collected from cases in which the cause of death was: A) certified intoxication by one substance alone, B) certified intoxication by more than one substance and/or alcohol, and C) certified other cause of death without incapacitation due to drugs. The concentrations were compared with blood concentrations detected in suspected drugged drivers (D), and with previously published fatal and therapeutic concentrations. The special features of this compilation are: 1) exclusively femoral blood concentrations are quoted, 2) all analyses are based on samples handled according to a standardized, quality-controlled procedure, 3) two control groups are included, and 4) one-substance-only intoxications are separated from other intoxications. The material is based on a selection of 15,800 samples sent to the Department of Forensic Chemistry in Linköping, Sweden, during 1992 to 1995 from the six forensic pathology units in Sweden, and the list includes 83 drugs. The compilation includes drugs, where previously published data are scarce. Furthermore, the data gathered from cases with other cause of death than intoxication (group C) constitute a new kind of reference information, which probably offers a better estimate of obviously non fatal levels in postmortem blood than any compilation of therapeutic concentrations in living subjects. The possible factors influencing postmortem drug concentrations are discussed.