Muhammad Rehan Khan, Prem Kumar Maheshwari, Huma Shamim, Shakeel Ahmed, Syed Rehan Ali.
Morbidity pattern of sick hospitalized preterm infants in Karachi, Pakistan.
J Pak Med Assoc Jan ;62(4):386-8.

Despite recent advances, prematurity is associated with high morbidity and mortality in developing countries. We conducted a descriptive case series to identify frequency of various morbidities in premature neonates at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi, from November 2008 to April 2009. All inborn premature < 37 weeks gestation were included in study. The frequency of preterm birth during study period was 13.3% (251/1885) of which 58% (n=145) required admission in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Mean gestational age was 33 ± 2.4 weeks and mean birth weight, was 1.88 ± 0.5 kg. 25% of patients were small for gestational age (SGA) while 75% appropriate for gestational age (AGA). Metabolic derangement was the most common morbidity, observed in 93% of patients followed by sepsis, seen in 43.6 % neonates. Respiratory distress syndrome was observed in 35.5% of neonates while intraventricular haemorrhage was seen only in 3.5% patients. Mean length of stay for preterm infants in NICU was 11.5 ± 9.6 days, 14% (n=20) preterm neonates expired during NICU stay.

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