A prospective study of otitis media in infants born at very-low birthweight.

Forty-six infants born at very-low birthweight were followed prospectively for a one-year period after their discharge from a neonatal intensive care unit. Pneumatic otoscopy was used to diagnose otitis media at periodic visits to a medical/developmental follow-up program. Twenty-one normal, full-term infants routinely cared for in a well-baby nursery served as control subjects and were followed similarly for the same time period. No difference was found between the two infant groups for the either the percentage of visits infants were considered to have normal middle ears bilaterally or otitis media unilaterally or bilaterally. Further, for the premature infants, no relationship was found between gestational age at birth, birthweight, or length of stay in the intensive care unit and percent-visits with otitis media during the first year.