PEDIATRICS Vol. 79 No. 4 April 1987, pp. 529-537
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Piekkala, P.
Right arrow Articles by Erkkola, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Piekkala, P.
Right arrow Articles by Erkkola, R.

Growth and Development of Infants Surviving Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A 2-Year Follow-up

Paula Piekkala MD1, Pentti Kero MD1, Matti Sillanpää MD1, and Risto Erkkola MD1

1 The Departments of Public Health, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

In a regional birth cohort of 5,356 live-born infants, during 12 consecutive months, 46 (0.9%) infants suffered from respiratory distress syndrome. Ten of them died before the age of 2 years. The cause of death was respiratory distress syndrome in two cases, intracerebral hemorrhage in four cases, asphyxia in one case, and congenital erythropoetic anemia in one case. Of the 36 survivors, 34 could be traced for the follow-up. Growth and development of the survivors with respiratory distress syndrome were compared with that of 3,375 term infants in the birth cohort with birth weights at the tenth percentile or above with no risk factors recognized during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or the neonatal period. Normal development was found in 85% of the survivors with respiratory distress syndrome and 99% of the control infants at the age of 2 years. Intracerebral hemorrhage and low one- and five-minute Apgar scores were associated with unfavorable outcome at 2 years in the survivors with respiratory distress syndrome. The developmental scores were significantly poorer than those of the controls at 2 years for gross motor, audiovisual, and psychosocial categories, whereas for fine motor development, the difference disappeared by the 2 years of age. The growth of the survivors with respiratory distress syndrome was satisfactory even if their heights remained below that of their control peers.

Key Words: respiratory distress syndrome • growth • developmental outcome

Submitted on November 1, 1985
Accepted on July 9, 1986