1Consultant Pediatrician and Assist. Prof. of Pediatrics, Wasit University-Faculty of Medicine, Iraq
2Senior Pediatrician and Tutor, Wasit University-Faculty of Medicine, Iraq
In AL-Zahraa Teaching Hospital in Kut, Iraq; 152 infants with birth weight less than 2500 g admitted to NICU in 2003 compared with 147 infants admitted in 2008 with male to female ratio of 1.37: 1 and 1.19: 1 respectively. The outcome was compared by mortality rate according to birth weight into three categories: 500-999g, 1000-1499g and 1500-2499g. The mortality rate was calculated as the number of deaths while admitted to NICU divided by the number of live births. The mortality of LBWI was 8% in 2003 and 23.86% in 2008 (p.< 0.05), mortality of VLBWI was 47.36% in 2003 and 80.48% in 2008 (p.< 0.05) and mortality of extremely LBWI was 78.57% in 2003 and 77.77% in 2008 (p.>0.05). The total mortality of infants had been increased from 24.34% in 2003 to 46.26% in 2008 (p.< 0.05). RDS (29.73% in 2003 vs. 26.47% in 2008), perinatal depression (27% in 2003 vs. 32.35% in 2008) and sepsis (29.72% in 2003 vs. 30.88% in 2008) proved to be the commonest etiologies of death.
Outcome, LBWI, Al-Zahraa hospital, Kut
