Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro"; piazza Giulio Cesare, 1170124, Bari, Italy.
Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Unit for Severe disabilities in developmental age and young adults, Developmental Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Brindisi, Italy.
BMC Pediatr. 2018 Oct 8;18(1):318. doi: 10.1186/s12887-018-1293-6.
Over the last decade, several studies investigated the outcomes in children born very preterm. Only recently there has been an increasing interest in the late preterm infants (born between 34 + 0 and 36 + 6 weeks). This population is at high risk of morbidity and mortality in the first years of life. Other studies reported that they are also at risk of long-term developmental problem. Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe the neurodevelopmental and emotional-behavioral outcome in a sample of late preterm patients.
The study included late preterm children and adolescents who had neuropsychiatric and/or neurological symptoms. They underwent a general, neurocognitive and an emotional-behavioral assessment. Exclusion criteria included: patients affected by Central Nervous System congenital abnormalities, neurodegenerative diseases, genetic disorders, epilepsy, or in pharmacological treatment, or adopted children. A descriptive statistics analysis was performed to describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients. Risk factors related to late preterm birth, prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders, and cognitive functioning were recorded and analyzed.
The sample included 68 LPI (45 males and 23 females) aged from 2 to 16.3 years (mean age 7,5 years), who were affected by one or more neurodevelopmental disorder, including Language Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Specific Learning Disorder, Developmental Coordination Disorder, Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Moreover, in 30.8% of patients, internalizing problems (affective and social skills problem) were detected.
Our results support the importance of a long-term surveillance of late preterm and the great need for more longitudinal large population studies in order to collect data on the neurodevelopmental outcomes of this population.
在过去的十年中，有几项研究调查了极早产儿的结局。直到最近，人们才对晚期早产儿（出生于 34 周+0 至 36 周+6 周之间）越来越感兴趣。这一人群在生命的最初几年有很高的发病率和死亡率。其他研究报告称，他们也有长期发育问题的风险。因此，本研究旨在描述晚期早产儿样本的神经发育和情绪行为结果。
该研究纳入了有神经精神和/或神经症状的晚期早产儿儿童和青少年。他们接受了一般、神经认知和情绪行为评估。排除标准包括：患有中枢神经系统先天性异常、神经退行性疾病、遗传疾病、癫痫或正在接受药物治疗或领养的儿童。进行了描述性统计分析，以描述患者的社会人口学和临床特征。记录并分析了与晚期早产儿出生相关的风险因素、神经发育障碍的患病率和认知功能。
该样本包括 68 名晚期早产儿（45 名男性和 23 名女性），年龄在 2 至 16.3 岁之间（平均年龄 7.5 岁），患有一种或多种神经发育障碍，包括语言障碍、注意缺陷多动障碍、特定学习障碍、发育协调障碍、智力残疾和自闭症谱系障碍。此外，在 30.8%的患者中，发现了内化问题（情感和社交技能问题）。
我们的结果支持对晚期早产儿进行长期监测的重要性，以及需要进行更多的大型纵向人群研究，以便收集该人群神经发育结果的数据。
