[A follow-up during the first year of life of newborn infants with very low weight at birth].

Groups of low-weight neonates, especially those under 1,500 g, discharged from the Intensive Care Unit, have a greater frequency of having psychoneurologic, audiologic, language and ophthalmologic scars in comparison with those neonates who suffered no complications. These frequencies vary considerably depending on different authors, the type of sequela and the duration of the follow-up. It is difficult to identify early on, which of these children will be affected in his later development. The currently used prognostic indexes have shown the importance of combining the child's psychoneurologic and biologic evolution as well as his surrounding environmental factors. Thirty-eight newborns were studied. Each weighted 1,500 g or less and were discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. All of the patients were subsequently evaluated by specialists in Neurology, Psychology, Social Communication, Neuromotor Rehabilitation and Ophthalmology at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age (37 weeks) and included in a study conducted by the Program for Pediatric Follow-up at the National Institute of Perinatology. In general, the number of abnormalities found in each of the specialties during the first months of life was notorious, which later decreased as the child got older. For example, Neurology found abnormalities at 3 months in a proportion of 0.61 and at 12 months, it decreased to 0.19 (P less than 0.001). During neuromotor stimulation something similar was seen at three months a proportion of 0.39 abnormalities were recorded while at 12 months this decreased to 0.18. The human communication tests showed a proportion of 0.32 at 3 months and 0.10 at 12 months (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)