Impact of Respiratory Morbidities on Neurodevelopmental Outcome of Late Preterm Infants

Objective This study aims to evaluate impact of respiratory and other neonatal comorbidities on neurodevelopmental outcome in late preterm infants (LPT). Method Retrospective study of LPT infants (34(0/7)-36(6/7) weeks' gestation) discharged from the New York University Langone Medical Center neonatal intensive care unit, during January 2006 to December 2010 and received follow-up care up to 2 years of age. Neonatal morbidities were correlated with neurodevelopmenta I outcomes and assessed by performance on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning during three developmental follow-up visits. Results A total of 99 LPT completed neurodevelopmental assessment up to 2 years of age. Infants with diagnosis of moderate-to-severe respiratory distress syndrome showed a significantly lower performance in the visual reception on the second (p < 0.01) and third visit (p = 0.02), as well as lower performance in the receptive language (visit 2, p = 0.02; visit 3, p < 0.01). A diagnosis of persistent pulmonary hypertension was found to be associated with significantly lower performance in the visual reception at all visits (p < 0.01; p = 0.02; p = 0.02) and in the receptive language on the second and third visit (p = 0.03; p = 0.02). Combined respiratory morbidities were also associated with lower developmental scores in fine motor (visit 2, p < 0.01; visit 3, p = 0.04) as well as expressive language (visit 3, p = 0.02). Conclusion LPT with significant respiratory morbidities are at higher risk for long-term developmental delays, mainly affecting cognitive developmental domains.