Js. Rawlings et Js. Scott, POSTCONCEPTIONAL AGE OF SURVIVING PRETERM LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT INFANTS ATHOSPITAL DISCHARGE, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 150(3), 1996, pp. 260-262
Background: Prediction of the duration of hospital stay of preterm, lo
w-birth-weight infants currently requires inconvenient referral to pub
lished tables. Objective: To determine whether postconceptional age (g
estational age plus chronologic age) could serve as a useful clinical
marker for the more convenient prediction of individual durations of h
ospital stay. Design: Case series. Setting: Regional military teaching
medical center with level III obstetric and neonatal services. Patien
ts: Nine hundred sixty surviving preterm, low-birth-weight infants in
the neonatal intensive care unit. Main Outcome Measure: The strength o
f the relationship of birth weight to postconceptional age at the time
of discharge was tested by analysis of variance. Results: Postconcept
ional age at the time of hospital discharge varied in a highly predict
able manner with birth weight (P<.001). The mean and variance were gre
atest for infants with very low birth weights and decreased with incre
asing birth weight. Postconceptional age at the time of discharge reac
hed a minimum of 36.0+/-1.4 weeks (mean+/-SD) for infants with birth w
eights of 1750 to 2240 g. Conclusions: Most preterm, ion-birth-weight
infants meet current eligibility criteria for hospital discharge at a
postconceptional age of 35 to 37 weeks. This level of maturity is suff
iciently predictive to serve as a convenient, easy-to-remember clinica
l marker for expected durations of hospital stay. For infants with bir
th weights of less than 1000 g, discharge at a postconceptional age of
37 to 42 weeks is a more realistic expectation.