Perinatal outcome and referral age

[摘要] During the past decade, prompt application of new knowledge of perinatal pathophysiology has dramatically improved the quality of life for surviving tiny premature infants. The results of prompt correction and, when possible, prevention of such potent interrelated insults as hypoglycemia, asphyxia, hyperoxia, jaundice, shock, thirsting, and starvation have led the more optimistic of us to expect the virtual disappearance of neurologic residua, previously considered the unavoidable legacy of surviving premature infants. In contrast, the data reported by Fitzhardinge in this issue1 serve as an important warning that all may not be well with these babies. Certain flaws in this report—the 16% attrition rate (no follow-up), the inadequate description of the control group (no control DQ's), and the failure to objectively document such measureable influences on outcome as serum unconjugated bilirubin, serum osmolality, blood sugar, and Po2 and Pco2—should caution the reader to accept these findings only with liberal "grains of salt."

[学科分类] 儿科学