Arham Muhammad, Wróblewska-Seniuk Katarzyna
Department of Pediatrics, Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan.
II Department of Neonatology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-535 Poznan, Poland.
Children (Basel). 2025 Jul 9;12(7):907. doi: 10.3390/children12070907.
Late-preterm (34-36 weeks) and early-term (37-38 weeks) newborns were, up until recently, erroneously categorized as low-risk and were conflated with full-term (39-40 weeks) deliveries. However, emerging evidence refuted this notion and demonstrated that late-preterm and, to a lesser extent, early-term newborns have a significantly higher risk of experiencing various neonatal morbidities, including respiratory distress syndrome, transient tachypnea of the newborn, pneumonia, jaundice, hypoglycemia, and breastfeeding difficulties, compared to their full-term counterparts-reflecting their relative physiologic and developmental immaturity. Recent evidence also unravels the lingering adverse effects of late-preterm and early-term delivery up until mid-adulthood, with the increased susceptibility of these newborns to neurodevelopmental delays, behavioral and neuropsychiatric problems, and adult chronic diseases. Moreover, apart from increased neonatal and infant mortality rates, these newborns continue to encounter a heightened risk of mortality even up to mid-adulthood. As the full spectrum of the complications these newborns face is gradually being unveiled, this review presents and discusses the current knowledge base, identifies gaps in the literature, and highlights future research implications.
直到最近，晚期早产儿（34 - 36周）和早期足月儿（37 - 38周）还被错误地归类为低风险，并与足月儿（39 - 40周）分娩混为一谈。然而，新出现的证据反驳了这一观点，并表明晚期早产儿以及在较小程度上的早期足月儿，与足月儿相比，经历各种新生儿疾病的风险显著更高，这些疾病包括呼吸窘迫综合征、新生儿短暂性呼吸急促、肺炎、黄疸、低血糖和母乳喂养困难，这反映了他们相对的生理和发育不成熟。最近的证据还揭示了晚期早产和早期足月分娩直至成年中期的长期不良影响，这些新生儿更容易出现神经发育迟缓、行为和神经精神问题以及成人慢性疾病。此外，除了新生儿和婴儿死亡率增加外，这些新生儿甚至在成年中期仍面临更高的死亡风险。随着这些新生儿所面临的并发症的全貌逐渐被揭示，本综述介绍并讨论了当前的知识基础，指出了文献中的空白，并强调了未来的研究意义。
