Despite overall decreasedmortality andmorbidity in preterm very low-birth-weight (VLBW:<1,500 g) infants over the past decades, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a devastating emergency intestinal disease in preterm VLBW infants, remains 5 to 6% and even increase despite much effort on peri-postnatal care.1 More worrisome, approximately 20 to 30% of VLBW infants with NECwill die2 and the remaini...

BACKGROUND Adults born preterm at very low birth weight (VLBW, <1500 g) have elevated levels of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Preliminary observations suggest that this could partly be explained by lower rates of physical activity. The aim of this study was to assess physical activity in healthy young adults born preterm at very low birth weight compared with ter...

CONTEXT Infants who are very preterm (born < or = 32 weeks of gestation) and very low birth weight (VLBW) (weighing < or = 1500 g) are at risk for poor developmental outcomes. There is increasing evidence that very preterm birth and VLBW have a considerable effect on motor development, although findings are inconsistent. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between very preterm birth and...

With advancements in complex repairs in neonates with complicated congenital heart diseases, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been increasingly used as cardiac support. ECMO has also been increasingly used for low birth weight (LBW) or very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates. However, since prematurity and LBW are risk factors for ECMO, the appropriate indications for neonates with ...

This study investigated maternal psychological distress, perceptions of social supports, and parenting strains after the birth of a very low birthweight (VLBW) infant. Compared to mothers of term infants, mothers of VLBW infants had significantly higher incidence of psychological distress during the neonatal period, but did not differ from mothers of term infants in their feelings of role restr...

OBJECTIVE To establish the influence of late-onset sepsis on neurodevelopment of preterm infants with very low birth weight (VLBW), according to the etiologic agent. METHOD This was a cohort of newborns with birth weight<1,500 g and gestational age less than 32 weeks, admitted to the institutional intensive care unit (ICU) with up to 48 hours of life, and followed-up at the outpatient follow-...

We investigated the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants in Korea using the Korean Neonatal Network (KNN) data. In total, 2,386 VLBW infants born from January 2013 to June 2014 were prospectively registered. BPD was defined as supplemental oxygen or positive pressure support at 36 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA). The overall incidence of BPD was 28...

The authors examined the relation between very low birth weight (VLBW: < 1,500 g) and possible developmental delay (DELAY) in the absence of frank developmental disability among young children. The prevalence of DELAY in a population-based cohort (Missouri resident births born from December 1989 through March 1991) of singleton VLBW children (n = 367) was compared with the prevalence of DELAY a...

BACKGROUND Infant mortality remains high in many developing countries in which the contribution of deaths among infants born very low birth weight (VLBW) may be considerable. This contribution has however not been quantified in most such countries. This paper explores a model that can be used in this respect. OBJECTIVE To determine the contribution of very low birth weight infants towards the...

An association between birth weight <1500 g (very low birth weight (VLBW)) and hearing loss has been long recognised. As universal hearing screening programmes have become widely implemented and the survival rate of VLBW babies in modern intensive care units has increased, we have gained a substantially better understanding of the nature of this problem. However, many gaps in our knowledge base...