The Next Frontier of Prematurity: Predicting Respiratory Morbidity During the First Two Years of Life in Extremely Premature Babies

Background Advances in perinatal and neonatal medicine have led to an increasing number of infants surviving extreme prematurity (≤27 weeks gestational age, GA). The goal of this study was to examine the respiratory outcomes after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge of this vulnerable population. We hypothesized that the rates of respiratory hospitalizations are disproportionally higher in the subset of infants born ≤27 weeks GA relative to premature infants born 28-32 weeks GA. Methodology A retrospective longitudinal study of severe premature children (≤32 weeks GA, n = 183) was conducted. We subdivided our sample into extremely preterm infants (≤27 weeks GA; n = 101) and those born very preterm (28-32 weeks GA; n = 82). Our main outcome was the presence of respiratory hospitalizations within 24 months of NICU discharge. Results Extremely premature infants had more than three times higher odds of respiratory hospitalization at 24 months relative to infants born 28-32 weeks GA (adjusted odds ratio = 3.4; 95% confidence interval = 1.8, 6.4; p < 0.01). The increased risk of respiratory hospitalization in extremely premature infants was independent of GA. Regression models identified that the duration of supplemental oxygen and Black/African American ethnicity were significant predictors of respiratory hospitalizations in both prematurity groups independent of gender and birth weight. Conclusions The results support that babies born ≤27 weeks GA represent a distinct high-risk group of severely premature infants that needs novel preventive strategies and targeted interventions to improve their respiratory outcomes after NICU discharge.