Context-Late preterm births (LPTB, 34 0/7-36 6/7 weeks) account for a growing proportion of prematurity-associated short term morbidities, particularly respiratory, that require specialized care and prolonged neonatal hospital stays.Objective-To assess short-term respiratory morbidity in LPTB compared to term births in a contemporary cohort of deliveries in the United States.Design, Setting, and Participants-Retrospective collection of electronic data from 12 institutions (19 hospitals) across the United States on 233,844 deliveries between 2002 and 2008. Charts were abstracted for all neonates with respiratory compromise admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and LPTB were compared to term births in regard to resuscitation, respiratory support and respiratory diagnoses. A multivariate logistic regression analysis compared infants at each gestational week controlling for factors that influence respiratory outcomes.Corresponding Author: Judith U. Hibbard, MD, Address: University of Illinois at Chicago, 820 South Wood Street, department of Ob/ Gyn, M/C 808, Chicago, IL 60612, Phone Number: 312 996-7300, Fax Number: 312 996-4135, jhibbar@uic.edu. * The Consortium on Safe LaborAll authors contributed to the study concept and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting of the manuscript, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content, statistical analysis, administrative, technical, or material support, and study supervision.Disclosures: All authors are without potential conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests and relationships and affiliations relevant to the subject of this manuscript. Respiratory distress syndrome decreased from 10.5% (390/3700) at 34 weeks to 0.3% (140/41,764) at 38 weeks. Similarly, TTN decreased from 6.4% (n=236) to 0.4% (n=155), pneumonia from 1.5% (n=55) to 0.1% (n=62), and respiratory failure from 1.6% (n=61) Conclusions-In a contemporary cohort, late preterm birth, compared with term delivery, was associated with increased risk for respiratory distress syndrome and other respiratory morbidity.
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