Long-term follow-up of 2 newborns with a combined birth weight of 540 grams

The Tiniest Babies Registry: A registry of survivors born weighing less than 400 grams

The Tiniest Babies Registry was launched in the year 2000 as a web-based registry for patients who survived to discharge after being born with birth weights below 400 grams. The registry began with 15 patients and by January 2022 had grown to 291, ranging in birth weight from 212 to 399 grams and in gestational age from 21 to 34 weeks. Three patients were born in the 1930s, and no others were born until 1985. The greatest number in a single year was 21 in 2010. The infants were born in 16 countries, but 166 of 291 (57%) were born in the U.S. All except 10 of the infants were small for gestational age at birth. No systematic data on the long-term outcomes of these patients is available, but the information submitted by selected registry participants indicates they are at increased risk for continued delays in growth and development.

Respiratory and Gastrointestinal Management of an Infant with a Birth Weight of 258 Grams

Today, more infants weighing less than or equal to 300 g are born, and they survive because of the improvements in neonatal care and treatment. However, their detailed clinical course and neonatal intensive care unit management remain unknown due to their low survival rate and dearth of reports. A male infant was born at 24 weeks and 5 days of gestation and weighed 258 g. The infant received 72 days of invasive and 92 days of noninvasive respiratory support, including high-frequency oscillatory ventilation with volume guarantee and noninvasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist. Meconium-related ileus was safely treated using diatrizoate. Although the infant was diagnosed with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia and retinopathy of prematurity requiring laser photocoagulation, he had no other severe complications. He was discharged 201 days postdelivery (3 months of corrected age) with a weight of 3.396 kg. Although managing infants weighing less than or equal to 300 g is difficult, our experience shows that it is possible by combining traditional and modern management methods. The management of such infants requires an understanding of the expected difficulties and adaptation of existing methods to their management. The management techniques described here should help improve their survival and long-term prognosis.

Case Report: Intact Survival of a Marginally Viable Male Infant Born Weighing 268 Grams at 24 Weeks Gestation

We report the case of a preterm small for gestational age male infant born at 24 weeks of gestation with a birth weight of 268 g who was discharged from our hospital without the requirement for home oxygen therapy or tube feeding. He did not experience severe intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, hearing disability, or any other serious complications. At that time (February 2019), according to the University of Iowa's Tiniest Babies Registry, he was the tiniest male infant in the world to survive without any serious complications other than severe retinopathy of prematurity that required laser therapy. Although the survival rate of infants with extremely low birth weight is improving worldwide, a high mortality rate and incidence of severe complications remain common for infants weighing <300 g at birth, particularly in male infants. In recent years, there have been frequent discussions regarding the ethical and social issues involved in treating extremely preterm infants weighing <400 g. Despite the challenges, reports of such infants surviving are increasing. Neonatal medicine has already achieved great success in treating infants weighing 400 g or more at birth. However, lack of evidence and experience may make physicians reluctant to treat infants weighing less than this. The present case demonstrates that intact survival of a marginally viable male infant with a birth weight of <300 g is possible with minimal handling and family involvement beginning shortly after birth. Our detailed description of the clinical course of this case should provide invaluable information to physicians around the world who treat such infants. This report will aid in the progress of neonatal medicine and help to address many of the social and ethical issues surrounding their care.

Case Report: Treatment of Extremely Preterm Infants With Birthweight Below 300 g: Case Series

Reports on the birth of infants weighing <300 g are quite rare and little is known about the best practices in treating such micropreemies. Therefore, we report here on three cases of low birthweight infants weighing <300 g, of whom two infants survived. The birthweights and gestational ages were ranging 279-293 g and 22 + 6/7 - 23 + 6/7 weeks, respectively. All the infants had severe fetal growth restriction and prematurity. The infant in case 1 died of hepatic rupture, perhaps due to birth trauma, which emphasized the need for less invasive obstetric procedures including en caul delivery. The infant in case 2 managed to survive through severe prematurity secondary to hydrops fetalis. However, complications followed soon as tracheal granulation tissue was formed with neurodevelopmental impairment. The infant in case 3 was born recently and her clinical course was less remarkable without severe complications, despite having the least gestational age and birthweight among the three patients. The improved care protocols for extremely low birthweight infants over these years through experiential learning including that with cases 1 and 2 may have ensured the better outcome of case 3. Accumulating evidence and recording the experience of such cases with continuous constructive discussion can contribute to better outcomes and appropriate parental counseling for extremely small babies in the future.