SEVERITY OF MEDICAL AND NEUROLOGIC COMPLICATIONS AS A DETERMINANT OF NEURODEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME AT 6 AND 12 MONTHS IN VERY-LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHTINFANTS

Very low birth weight (n = 154) and term infants (n = 119) had neurolo gic and developmental assessment at 6 and 12 months of age. Preterm in fants with severe neonatal complications were considered to be at high risk, and those with milder complications were considered to be at lo w risk, for neurodevelopmental abnormality. Compared to term infants, high- and low-risk infants had abnormalities at 6 months in total neur ologic score, cranial nerves, motor tone, motor coordination, and refl exes (P < .001). At 12 months, all groups had improved. However, high- risk infants had persistent abnormalities in the same subcategories (P < .001), whereas low-risk infants differed from term infants only in motor tone (P < .001). Bayley developmental scores were different for all groups at 6 months (P < .001), but at 12 months only high-risk inf ants differed from term infants (P < .01). These results demonstrate i mprovement in neurologic and developmental scores over time in very lo w birth weight infants. The degree of neurodevelopmental abnormality a nd improvement over time is related to severity of neonatal complicati ons in preterm infants.