Effect of surfactant on morbidity, mortality, and resource use in newborn infants weighing 500 to 1500 g.

BACKGROUND: The administration of surfactant decreased mortality, morbidity, and costs of care for very-low-birth-weight infants in clinical trials. The extent to which these benefits can be achieved in the usual clinical settings is not known. METHODS: We analyzed clinical and financial data obtained from 1985 to 1990 at 14 perinatal centers in the United States on 5629 neonates weighing 500 to 1500 g. The infants were divided into groups according to whether they were born before or after surfactant was introduced into clinical practice. Regression models controlling for race, sex, and birth weight were used to assess mortality, morbidity, and use of resources. Mortality rates specific for these variables were projected to the nation as a whole with reference to the 1985 U.S. birth cohort. RESULTS: The odds of death in the hospital for very-low-birth-weight infants were reduced by 30 percent after surfactant was introduced. Among infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, mortality declined 40 percent. Projections of mortality nationwide declined 5 percent. Eighty percent of the decline in the U.S. infant mortality rate between 1989 and 1990 could be attributed solely to the use of surfactant. Among the survivors, the overall odds of morbidity did not change, whether or not we adjusted for changes in race, sex, and birth weight. The odds of respiratory distress syndrome and pulmonary interstitial emphysema among the survivors declined by 20 percent and 40 percent, respectively, with surfactant. Inflation-adjusted charges per survivor declined by 10 percent, or $5,800, whereas the cost of care for each infant who died declined by 31 percent, or $4,400. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of surfactant has led to decreased mortality and morbidity in very-low-birth-weight infants and to decreased use of resources both for infants who survive and for those who die.

Dexamethasone therapy for chronic lung disease in ventilator- and oxygen-dependent infants: a controlled trial.

To determine whether dexamethasone therapy altered the outcome of chronic lung disease in neonates, we conducted a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Twenty-one 30-day-old oxygen- and ventilator-dependent infants were enrolled. The mean (+/- SD) birth weight was 808.1 +/- 141 gm and the mean gestational age was 26.0 +/- 1.5 weeks. There were 17 black and 12 male infants. Twelve received placebo and nine received dexamethasone. Neither severity of early illness, birth weight, gestational age, age when treated, gender and race distribution, nor frequency of diuretic therapy differed significantly between groups. The age at extubation, 57.2 days (placebo) versus 39.4 days (steroid), was significantly different. The average oxygen requirements of the steroid-treated patients was significantly lower than for placebo-treated patients during the first 10 days of treatment. There were no differences for placebo-versus steroid-treated patients in age when weaned to room air (95.5 days vs 74.9 days), age at discharge (119 days vs 111 days), or number of deaths (2 (17%) vs 1 (11%]. Dexamethasone therapy was associated with a significantly increased incidence of hyperglycemia (89% vs 8%) but did not influence the incidence of hypertension, intracranial hemorrhage, infection, or retinopathy of prematurity. The steroid-treated patients had a significant delay in weight gain during the first 3 weeks of treatment but recovered by discharge. Our results suggest that dexamethasone produces acute improvement in infants with lung disease but no long-term effect on mortality rate, duration of oxygen requirement or age at discharge.