The factors associated with death in infants admitted for NICU care are multifactorial and diverse, and they change with EGA. At lower gestational ages,mortality is most commonly caused by extreme prematurity and its complications, namely RDS, IVH, NEC, and sepsis. With increasing EGA, the etiology of mortality shifts to HIE and genetic and structural anomalies. Efforts to decrease NICU mortality in premature infants should therefore focus on preventing or delaying preterm birth and optimizing therapies that may decrease IVH, NEC, RDS, and sepsis. In more mature infants, targets should include reventing and managing HIE and defining optimal management strategies for infants with nonlethal anomalies.
www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2014-2967 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2014-2967
Jack Jacob, MD, Michael Kamitsuka, MD, Reese H. Clark, MD, Amy S.Kelleher, MSHS, Alan R. Spitzer, MD
