Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/PgFTKpzpzdg   The survival of actively-treated very premature infants born at 22 to 23 weeks of gestation rose by a factor of 3 when you compare the recent results with those 6 years earlier.  This heartening statistic is the conclusion of a collaborative study from the 129 academic medical centers that compose the NIH Neonatal Research Network.   Led by University of Rochester neonatologists, the investigation compared the data on 1158 premies born between 2013 and 2018 with 1113 born between 2008 and 2012.  The survival rate to discharge for those born at 22 weeks increased from 7% to 30% and, for those born at 23 weeks, there was an increase from 32% to 55.8%.   This survival boost was due to sharing of best practices.  Additional improvements should come with time not only for survival but also for the elimination of neurodevelopment deficits.  The latest stats show that just over half of the infants had neurocognitive issues at their 2 year followup exams.   https://jamanetwork