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The report by Poets and Sens1 in this issue clearly shows that raising the criteria required for endotracheal intubation and intermittent mandatory ventilation (ET/IMV) in an entire community population of vulnerable, very low birth weight (VLBW) infants reduces bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Outcomes in all live-born infants with birth weights of between 500 and 1499 g from the German state of Lower Saxony, cared for in tertiary centers (comparable to level III neonatal intensive care units [NICUs] in this country) as well as in community centers (level II NICUs), from 1992 through 1994 were examined. No apparent price was paid for this improvement in pulmonary outcome.
Submitted on April 2, 1996