Short-Term Outcomes of Very Low Birth Weight Infants at a Tertiary Care Center in UAE Compared to the World

Background: Very low birth weight infants make up a small percentage of total live births but contribute significantly to neonatal intensive care unit admissions and mortalities. Their survival rate has increased greatly in developed countries due to advanced perinatal health care but developing countries still lag.

Aims: Examine the mortality and morbidity rates in VLBWI in a tertiary neonatal care center in UAE and compare these to previously published data from the same center (VLBWI outcomes during 2004-2006, labeled period I), the region and international neonatal networks.

Methods: Demographic and multiple outcome data were collected from annual audits of the unit on a VLBWI cohort (500–1500g) admitted between January 2011 and December 2015.

Results: Of the 468 infants weighing 500–1500g at birth, 82% survived until discharge (85.6% in period I), 33% had Chronic Lung Disease (12.1% in period I), 10% suffered from necrotizing enterocolitis (5.8% in period I), 22.2% had Intraventricular Hemorrhage of any grade (17.5% in period I) while 3.8% had Periventricular Leukomalacia (2.8% in period I ). Cesarean sections were conducted 75% of the time (55.5% in period 1) and 49% cases were multiple births (33.9% in period I). These outcomes were also compared to regional reports and international neonatal networks.

Conclusion: Of the 468 infants weighing 500–1500g at birth, 82% survived until discharge (85.6% in period I), 33% had Chronic Lung Disease (12.1% in period I), 10% suffered from necrotizing enterocolitis (5.8% in period I), 22.2% had Intraventricular Hemorrhage of any grade (17.5% in period I) while 3.8% had Periventricular Leukomalacia (2.8% in period I ). Cesarean sections were conducted 75% of the time (55.5% in period 1) and 49% cases were multiple births (33.9% in period I). These outcomes were also compared to regional reports and international neonatal networks.

Key words: Very low birth weight infants; Very preterm infants; Outcome; Mortality; Morbidity