AUTHOR=Ramdin Tanusha D. , Saggers Robin T. , Bandini Rossella M. , Magadla Yoliswa , Mphaphuli Aripfani V. , Ballot Daynia E. TITLE=Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Extremely Low Birth Weight Survivors in Johannesburg, South Africa JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2022.902263 DOI=10.3389/fped.2022.902263 ISSN=2296-2360 ABSTRACT=Background:

Improved survival in extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWI) in Sub-Saharan Africa has raised the question whether these survivors have an increased chance of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Objectives

To describe neurodevelopmental outcomes of ELBWI in a neonatal unit in South Africa.

Methods

This was a prospective follow-up study. All ELBWI who survived to discharge between 1 July 2013 and 31 December 2017 were invited to attend the clinic. Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (version III) were conducted at 9 to 12 months and 18 to 24 months.

Results

There were 723 ELBWI admissions during the study period, 292 (40.4%) survived to hospital discharge and 85/292 (29.1%) attended the neonatal follow up clinic. The mean birth weight was 857.7 g (95% CI: 838.2–877.2) and the mean gestational age was 27.5 weeks (95% CI 27.1–27.9). None of the infants had any major complication of prematurity. A total of 76/85 (89.4%) of the infants had a Bayley-III assessment at a mean corrected age of 17.21 months (95% CI: 16.2–18.3). The mean composite scores for cognition were 98.4 (95% CI 95.1–101.7), language 89.9 (95% CI 87.3–92.5) and motor 97.6 (95% CI 94.5–100.6). All mean scores fell within the normal range, The study found 28 (36.8%) infants to be “at risk” for neurodevelopmental delay.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrates good neurodevelopmental outcome in a small group of surviving ELBWI, but these results must be interpreted in the context of the high mortality in this group of infants.