We have established NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) in our hospital and concentrated our efforts on improving the contents of medical treatment since 1976 in order to accomplish a regionalization of neonatal medical treatment in our district.
Thereafter, the mortality rate of low birth weight infants at different weight have decreased markedly. During this period, we have gathered information by means of questinnaire concerning the prognosis of low birth weight (below 2, 000 g) infants whowere admitted in our hospital in the preimprovement period of five years (1971 through 1975, Group 1; N =110) and in the post-improvement period of five years (1976 through 1980, Group 2; N = 96).
The results were as follows:
1, In terms of height and weight, both groups revealed to be no less than those of normal infants.
2. The occurrence of cerebral palsy in Group 2 (2.2%) decreased to below one third of Group 1 (7.5%).
3. There were two infants with blindness resulting from retrolental fibloplasia in Group 1 and one in Group 2.
4. As regards the occurrence rate of epilepsy, there were two children with it in Group 1 (1.98%) and one in Group 2 (1.1%), whereas four children in Group 1 had episodes of afebrile convulsion.
5. Five (5.4%) of 92 grade-school pupils in Group 1 were attending a clss for handicapped.
From these results, it may be concluded that the improvement of neonatal medical treatment brought about a decrease of death rate of low birth weight infants and the improvement of theirprognosis as well.