Premium
Increasing incidence of respiratory distress in neonates
Author(s) -
Ersch Joerg,
RothKleiner Matthias,
Baeckert Peter,
Bucher Hans Ulrich
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2007.00440.x
Subject(s) - medicine , respiratory distress , incidence (geometry) , pediatrics , population , caesarean section , etiology , mechanical ventilation , birth weight , low birth weight , mortality rate , pregnancy , anesthesia , physics , environmental health , biology , optics , genetics
Aim: To document the change in the incidence of respiratory distress (RD), related interventions and mortality in neonates admitted to primary, secondary and tertiary neonatal units within a geographically defined population over a period of 30 years. Methods: RD was defined as a clinical picture irrespective of the etiology. Information was collected retrospectively for 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004 from all neonatal units in Switzerland. Results: In the 30 years studied the proportion of infants hospitalized with RD increased from 1.9% to 3.8% of the whole neonatal population and from 30% to 53% of all infants admitted to a neonatal unit. Treatment of RD changed significantly. Mechanical ventilation decreased from 31% to 16%, nasal CPAP increased from almost 0% to 26% and surfactant administration increased from 0% to 53% in infants with hyaline membrane disease. Overall mortality decreased in infants with RD from 15.5% to 3.5%. Conclusions: The incidence of RD in infants admitted to neonatal units doubled over the last 30 years in a geographically defined neonatal population. This rise can predominantly be ascribed to infants with birth weight >2500 g and may reflect the corresponding increase in the rate of caesarean section.