Perinatal characteristics and outcome of VLBW infants at NICU of a developing country: an experience at eastern Nepal.

Objective: To evaluate the perinatal chracteristics and mortality pattern as well as to correlate mortality with perinatal characteristics in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants.

Methods: This was a retrospective study. Chi square tests, Fisher Exact tests, Log rank tests and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for analysis of different parameters using SPSS 10.0 statistical software.

Results: Among 125 VLBW infants, 76 survived. Survival improved with increasing birth weight (BW) and gestational age (GA). Most deaths occurred within 5 days. Duration of hospital stay increased with decreasing BW among survivors. Perinatal risks of mortality included history of abortion, no use of antenatal steroid, GA <32 weeks and Apgar score
Conclusion: Survival improved with increasing BW and GA. The perinatal predictors of mortality were history of abortion, ELBW, no use of antenatal steroid, GA <32 weeks and low Apgar score at 1 min.