Four-Year Update Of Extremely Premature Infants

Ten infants born at 23 or 24 weeks gestation have been followed by the Mayo Clinic since their births in 1991 or 1992. These infants needed aggressive intensive care at birth, including caesarian section, CPR, and/or high-frequency ventilation. Nine of the ten survived. At age four, one child has no handicaps, six have mild handicaps (including borderline IQ scores, poor vision, clumsiness, and unclear speech), and two have severe handicaps (including mental retardation and cerebral palsy).The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in New Orleans, May 1-5. For interviews during the meeting, contact the press room at (504) 670-8502 or 670-8508.Researchers’ Institutional Contact: Jane Jacobs (507) 284-2387