Decisions and outcome for infants born near the limit of viability

Background

Initiation or withholding life support at birth on infants born prematurely near the limit of viability is not an easy decision, with wide variation in practice around the world. Our aim was to review the outcome of preterm infants born near the limit of viability at 23–25 weeks gestation in our institution, with regard to resuscitation decision, survival, and major outcome measures.

Methods

We included all live newborn infants born prematurely at 23–25 weeks gestation at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre from January 2006 to December 2015. We collected data on resuscitation decisions, survival, and major neonatal morbidities such as severe brain injury, severe retinopathy of prematurity, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Results

Between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2015, 97 infants with a gestational age (GA) of 23–25 weeks gestation were admitted; 23, 42, and 32 infants were born at 23, 24, and 25 weeks gestation, respectively. At 23 weeks gestation, full support was initiated in 87% of patients and later on support was withheld in 17.4% of patients, finally 13% of patients survived to discharge. At 24 weeks, full support was initiated in 97.6% of patients, then withheld in 7.1% of patients, and ultimately 59.5% survived. At 25 weeks, full support was initiated in 93.8% of patients, then withheld in 15.6% of patients, and ultimately 62.5% survived. In terms of survival with and without the three major neonatal morbidities, at 23 weeks gestation, no infant survived without any morbidity as compared to 7.1% and 28.1% at 24 and 25 weeks, respectively. The incidence of survival with 1 major morbidity was 8.7%, 30.9%, and 34.4% at 23, 24, and 25 weeks, respectively, the incidence of survival with 2 major morbidities was 0%, 19%, and 0% at 23, 24, and 25 weeks, respectively, and the incidence of survival with 3 major morbidities was 4.3%, 2.4%, and 0% at 23, 24, and 25 weeks, respectively.

Conclusion

In our patient cohort, survival and survival without major neonatal morbidity were very low at 23 weeks gestation, but it improved gradually as gestational age advanced.