Objective: Preterm infants, especially with very low birth weight (VLBW) have high mortality rate because of the
various severe postnatal problems. We aimed to present neonatal outcomes, including morbidity, mortality, and
care practices for preterm infants admitted to our tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in our region.
Materials and Methods: Perinatal data were collected prospectively from January 2002 through August 2003. The
rate and the causes of mortality, and the properties of morbidity of VLBW infants were evaluated.
Results: In total, 95 VLBW infants were admitted to this study. Thirty nine percent (37) of the infants were female
and 61% (58) were male. The mean birth weight was 1222±240 g (458-1500 g) and mean gestational age was 30±3
weeks (25-36). The mortality rate was 33.7% for all infants and it was greater for the male than that of the female
infants (25.2%, 8%). Antenatal steroids were administered to only 19% of mothers. The most important maternal
risk factors were preeclampsia/eclampsia (26.3%) and premature rupture of membranes (>24 h, 23.2%).
Respiratory distress syndrome was diagnosed in 39%, surfactant was administered to 91.8% of these infants. The
rate and mean duration of ventilator support were 53.7% and 5±7.67 days. The most important morbidities were
severe intracranial hemorrhage (20%) and periventricular leukomalacia (10.5%). Chronic lung disease and
retinopathy of prematurity (stage >II) were diagnosed in 4.2%. Necrotizing enterocolitis was developed only in
three infants. The major causes of death were earlyonset sepsis and/or pneumonia (44.4%), intracranial
hemorrhage (22.2%) and extreme prematurity (18.5%). The rate of survival without major morbidity was 81%.
Conclusion: In our study, early neonatal sepsis or pneumonia and intracranial hemorrhage were
detected as the most important causes of death for VLBW infants. We conclude that, the major cause of
high mortality rate depends on low-sociocultural conditions associated with insufficient prenatal care
and inaccurate neonatal transport in our region.
Key Words: Very Low Birth Weight İnfant, Mortality, Morbidity.
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