Survival and disability in extremely tiny babies less than 600 g birthweight

Survival of “pre-viable” infants in the United States

“…These studies consist of mostly case reports [12,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], including the unusual survival of a 280 g infant, and case series [25][26][27]. Recently, accounts of viability among pre-viable infants within geographically defined populations have begun to emerge [5,26,28]. While these reports describe the natural history of extrauterine survival among cohorts of pre-viable fetuses, they do not provide adequate information regarding trend, partly due to paucity of numbers.…”

Variation in mortality and intraventricular haemorrhage in occupants of Pacific Rim nurseries

“…Despite significant mortality and morbidity outcomes for very low birthweight infants (< 1501 g), recent trends show improved survival worldwide for these infants 1−6 . However, variations in neonatal mortality rates continue to occur in dif­ferent countries.…”

Transepidermal water loss in infants born at 24 and 25 weeks of gestation

“…During the last few decades, advances in antenatal care and the neonatal intensive care of critically ill preterm infants have resulted in a decrease in neonatal morbidity and mortality, with the most dramatic increase in survival in the group of extremely preterm infants (1)(2)(3). These infants require well-planned and executed care to maintain a stable general condition despite insufficient maturity in several vital functions, such as water and heat balance, and respiration (4).…”

“…New treatments, such as antenatal corticosteroid treatment of the mother (11), postnatal surfactant therapy, care in new incubators with improved humidification and temperature control (12) and new methods for neonatal nutrition (4), have contributed to the increased survival of very preterm infants (1,3).…”