[Neuro-psychological development of a group of children with neonatal respiratory distress treated with intermittent positive-pressure respirator].

The first results of long-term evolution of 99 children, most of which were premature, and who survived after intermittent positive pressure respiration for hyaline membrane disease, have been analyzed. No matched series could be set up. With a follow-up ranging from 3 1/2 years to 6 years, 51% of the children were normal, 12.5% presented with severe neurological and psychological sequellae, 31% had acceptable, sometimes slight handicap. As compared with series of the literature, prognosis was improved with intensive care and artificial respiration. This is far more obvious for the children at stage III, of which none survived without artificial respiration.