Improving survival for infants of <26 weeks’ gestation, 1995–2005
- 1Regional Neonatal Unit, Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast, UK
- 2Neonatal Intensive Care Outcomes, Research and Evaluation (NICORE), Division of Maternal and Child Health, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast, UK
- 3Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) Northern Ireland, Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland, Belfast, UK
- Dr Stanley Craig, Regional Neonatal Unit, Royal Maternity Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BB, Northern Ireland, UK; stan.craig{at}belfasttrust.hscni.net
- Accepted 5 October 2008
For infants born at extremely low gestations there is significant morbidity and mortality with wide variation in reported outcomes.1 2 The EPICure study has informed perinatal decision-making at gestations of <26 weeks in the UK and Ireland for the last decade but, as it reflects the outcome of infants born in 1995, it may no longer be appropriate.3 The aim of this study was to determine outcomes for infants born at 22+0–25+6 weeks’ gestation in 2005 in Northern Ireland compared with 1995.
Anonymised data for infants born in 2005 were obtained retrospectively from (1) the NICORE (Neonatal Intensive Care Outcomes, Research and Evaluation) database, (2) CEMACH (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and …
