Neurodevelopmental follow-up of preterm infants: current practice for infants at a tertiary neonatal centre.

Aim: To characterise neurodevelopmental surveillance, assessment and outcomes for infants at risk of adverse neurodevelopment and inform targeted surveillance of infants discharged from a regional tertiary neonatal centre.

Methods: A retrospective study of developmental follow-up of 106 vulnerable infants born either preterm (23-29 weeks gestation, n=96) or at ≥30 weeks gestation with low birth weight (<1,200 grams n=10) admitted to our tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between January 2011 and December 2015. Infants transferred to other regions before two-years corrected postnatal age were excluded.

Outcomes of infants born at 23 and 24 weeks' gestation with gut perforation.

Purpose: The provision of neonatal intensive care to infants born at 23 or 24 weeks' gestation poses medical, surgical and ethical challenges. Gastrointestinal perforation is a well-recognized complication of preterm birth, occurring most often as a result of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP). Given the risk of morbidity and mortality in these 'periviable' infants, this complication may prompt transition from active management to palliative care.