Very Low Birth Weight Mortality and Morbidity: Can a Decade Make A Difference?

Health outcomes research is perhaps best done through large data registries, and when it comes to neonatal outcomes, there is no registry larger than the Vermont Oxford Neonatal Network. Membership now includes more than 900 neonatal intensive care units around the world who every day record information on our highest risk infants. This week, we share important data from Horbar et al. (doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-3028) on mortality and morbidity among more than 355,000 very low birth weight (500-1500 gram) infants born between 2000 and 2009. The results, though improving over the decade, show that there is still work to be done to improve outcomes in this fragile population. Accompanying this report is a commentary by our journal’s former Editor-In-Chief Dr. Jerry Lucey (doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-0795). Dr. Lucey frames some next steps to consider if we are going to make further improvements in health outcomes in the very low birth weight infant. The Vermont Oxford study is probably the largest survey of preterm outcomes available, and for anyone involved in the immediate or long-term care of these children, this study and Dr. Lucey’s commentary are must-reads.