VALIDITY OF PRESENTLY APPLIED THERAPEUTIC CONCEPTS IN NEONATOLOGY

Over the last 35 years 50% survival rate of newborns dropped from infa nts with 1200 g to those with 600 g birthweight. The underlying causes are multifactorial. To answer the question for the influence of thera peutic concepts on this improvement among other things the following a spects have to be considered: Therapies coming into question are appli ed in differently sized patient populations. Therapeutic concepts may be based either on physiologic or pathophysiologic principles or on mo re or less speculative assumptions. Therapies applied in neonatal care were adapted from adult medicine or were primarily developed for newb orns. The efficacy of therapies was or was not tested by properly desi gned controlled clinical trials. The narrow range between benefits and risks of therapeutic activities especially in premature infants force s a critical assessment of newly available therapies in neonatology.