Survival rate and short-term outcomes of extremely preterm infants: A tertiary care center experience from the private sector

Background: Premature birth is one of the leading causes of death in the world. The global incidence of prematurity ranges from 5% to 11% of all births. The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of extremely preterm infants born below 29 weeks in our institution, with regard to survival and major short-term outcomes, and compare our results with national and international centers. This study is the first to be conducted in a private tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive cohort study that reviewed the medical records of preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at the International Medical Center, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between January 2014 and January 2020. We compared our results to the national data from King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center-Riyadh, King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC)-Jeddah and KAMC Riyadh, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Alhasa, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network, and the Canadian Neonatal Network. Results: A total of 92 preterm infants were included: 3, 8, 17, 17, 29, and 18 infants with a gestational age of 23 weeks, 24 weeks, 25 weeks, 26 weeks, 27 weeks, and 28 weeks, respectively. The mean gestational age was 25 weeks and 5 days. Fifty-four infants (58.7%) survived to hospital discharge. In terms of short-term outcomes, 13% had bronchopulmonary dysplasia, hemodynamically significant ductus arteriosus was present in 27%, and retinopathy of prematurity was found in 13%, necrotizing enterocolitis was diagnosed in 5.4%, while late-onset sepsis was reported in 23.9% of infants. Conclusion: Our study represents outcomes of Extremely Preterm Infants in a single Private tertiary Care Center from Saudi Arabia with a comparison to national and international data. Though it cannot be generalized our data can be used as an add-value cohort toward establishing countrywide neonatal network to better plan regional resource allocation and utilization and facilitate ongoing audit, benchmarking, and overall quality improvement initiatives.