PREVALENCE OF COMPLICATIONS IN PRETERM BABIES IN AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY MATERNITY HOSPITAL NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Abstract

N eonatal morbidity and mortality are important public health problems in developing countries. The neonatal period is considered highly vulnerable time for an infant, who is completing many of the physiologic adjustment required for extrauterine existence. The late fetal and early neonatal period is the time of the life exhibiting the highest mortality rate of any age interval. Our study is a retrospective study was conducted over a period of 18 months (February 2009-August 2010) in the neonatal care unit of Ain Shams university, Maternity Hospital. The aim was to identify the morbidity and mortality rates of preterm neonates and to report the causes of their mortality. Also, we studied the impact of different parameters (e.g., mode of delivery, gestational age, birth weight) on the mortality. The total number of cases was 100 infants. 50 of them were males (50%) and 50 (50%) was females. Their gestational age ranged from 27 to 36 weeks, and their admission's weights varied from 0.5 to 3.2 kg. The admission ages of the patients ranged from few hours to 2 days. The majority of cases were singletons, and 70% of mothers had complications during the pregnancy and delivery. The commonest maternity complication was pre-eclampsia. Parental consanguinity had no significant role in the occurrence of prematurity. The commonest causes of admission were respiratory disease, followed by neonatal jaundice and sepsis. The majority of cases (66.3%) who required respiratory support ranging from SIMV to box/incubator oxygen. Most of the cases that needed oxygen therapy were ventilated. Neonates needing SIMV had the highest mortality among those receiving oxygen therapy. The commonest complications which occurred during the stay of preterms in the NICU were, respiratory disorders (76%), neonatal sepsis (56%) and neonatal jaundice (42%).