Neonatal morbidity in late preterm infants associated with intrauterine growth restriction

Abstract

AIM: This study aims to compare the neonatal morbidity of Intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) Late Preterm (LP) babies, to those born Late Preterm but evaluated as Appropriate for Gestational Age (AGA). METHODS: The study is a 2-year prospective one that used data from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) charts of LP neonates born in our tertiary maternity hospital “Koço Gliozheni” in Tirana. Congenital anomalies and genetical syndromes are excluded. Neonatal morbidity of IUGR Late Preterm is compared to those born Late Preterm but evaluated as AGA. OR and CI, 95% is calculated. RESULTS: Out of 336 LP babies treated in NICU, 88 resulted with IUGR and 206 AGA used as a control group. We found significantly higher morbidity in the IUGR group for hypoglycemia, polycythemia, feeding intolerance, birth asphyxia and seizures, secondary sepsis have higher morbidity but the difference is not significant. No differences were found for hyperbilirubinemia in both groups. No neonatal deaths were observed in both groups. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that late preterm IUGR has a significantly higher risk for neonatal morbidity when compared to late preterm AGA babies.