[Outcome at 3 years of age in a low birth weight cohort]. / Evolución a los 3 años de edad de una cohorte de recién nacidos de muy bajo peso.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to establish the outcome at 3 years of age for very low birth weight newborns admitted to the Hospital 12 de Octubre from January 1991 to December 1993. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A follow-up study was performed. The pediatric assessment included a neurological, psychological, visual and audiological evaluation. At the end of the follow-up, children were blindly assessed to determine the rate of neurosensory disability. The severity of the neurosensory disability was graded as severe, moderate or mild by a functional classification. The rates of cerebral palsy, blindness and deafness were reported. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-three infants between 500 and 1,499 g were admitted to the Hospital 12 de Octubre of which 182 survived. Of these, 137 (75% of the survivors) were assessed at 3 years of age. The children who dropped out during the follow-up period had similar characteristics to those with a complete follow-up program except that the drop-out child was more likely to belong to a disadvantaged family. The rate of neurosensory disability was 28.5% (39/137), 16% were mild, 5% moderate and 7% severe. The rate of cerebral palsy was 13% (18/137), blindness 1.4% and deafness 0.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Children from more disadvantaged families are less likely to continue in follow-up programs and this supposes a bias in the follow-up program. At 3 years, neurosensory disability was diagnosed in 1 out of every 4 children and cerebral palsy in 1 out of 8 children.

[Periventricular leukomalacia and persistent hyperechogenicity: relationship between ultrasound findings and sequelae]. / Leucomalacia periventricular e hiperecogenicidad persistente: relación entre hallazgos ecográficos y secuelas.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to know the incidence of periventricular leukomalacia and persistent periventricular echodensities in neonates with a birth weight < 1,500 g and to correlate cranial ultrasound findings with the developmental outcome of these babies at 18 months of corrected age. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a cohort study of 319 newborns weighing 1500 g or less who were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of "12 de Octubre" Hospital between July 1990 and April 1994. Scans were performed while they were hospitalized and 183 surviving infants were followed up to 18 months of corrected age. Relative risks (rr) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated for sequelae according to neonatal cranial ultrasound abnormalities. Ninety-six infants with normal scans were considered as the control group. Persistent periventricular echodensities were classified as mild, moderate or severe. RESULTS: The incidence of periventricular leukomalacia was 3% (10/319) and of persistent periventricular echodensites was 11.2% (36/319). The percentage of sequelae was 5% for control infants, 15.6% (rr = 3, CI 95% = 0.94-8.8) for persistent periventricular echodensities, independent of its severity, 50% (rr = 9.7, CI 95% = 2.6-35) for moderate persistent periventricular echodensities and 78% (rr = 15.6, CI 95% = 6-38) for periventricular leukomalacia. CONCLUSIONS: Periventricular leukomalacia multiplies the number of sequelae by 15. Persistent periventricular echodensities, independent of its severity, does not multiply the number of sequelae significantly. However, moderate persistent periventricular echodensities multiply the number of sequelae by 9.