Neurodevelopmental Outcomes among Extremely Premature Infants with Linear Growth Restriction

OBJECTIVE: To compare neurodevelopmental outcomes in linear growth-restricted (LGR) infants born <29 weeks with and without weight gain out of proportion to linear growth STUDY DESIGN: We compared 2-year neurodevelopmental outcomes between infants with and without LGR and between LGR infants with and without weight gain out of proportion to linear growth. The outcomes were Bayley-III cognitive, motor, and language scores, cerebral palsy, Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level ≥ 2, and neurodevelopmental impairment. RESULT: 1227 infants were analyzed. LGR infants were smaller and less mature at birth, had higher BMI, and had lower Bayley-III language scores (82.3 vs 85.0, p<0.05). Among infants with LGR, infants with high BMI had lower language scores compared to those with low-to-normal BMI (80.8 vs 83.3, p<0.05), and were more likely to have GMFCS level ≥ 2 and neurodevelopmental impairment. CONCLUSION: Among infants with LGR, weight gain out of proportion to linear growth was associated with poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes.