Survival Outcome of Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Korea by Gestational Age (2002-2009)

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: There has recently been improvement in treatment skills and outcomes of patients in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) of Korea. According to several studies, such results of very to extremely low birth weight infants were markedly improved in comparison to that of Japan or USA. In speculation, the authors reviewed the survival outcomes by gestational age from 2002 to 2009. METHODS: We extracted the survival outcomes of NICU patients by gestational age from the data of previous studies. Data from Japanese Perinatal Care Center Research Network and NICHD Neonatal Research Network of US were used for comparison. RESULTS: The survival rates by gestational age are as follows (2002, 2007, and 2009 respectively) 22-23 weeks (3.4, 19.0, 28.6%), 24 weeks (21.3, 44.0, 59.3%), 26 weeks (59.4,77.8, 78.0%), 28 weeks (79.0, 88.0, 91.2%), 30 weeks (93.8, 95.3, 93.6%), 32 weeks (95.3, 97.1, 98.2%), 34 weeks (98.8, 99.0, 99.0%), 36 weeks (99.2, 99.1, 99.2%), 38 weeks (99.7, 99.5, 99.2%), 40 weeks (99.7, 99.4, 99.2%), longer than 42 weeks (100.0, 96.3, 94.7%). For infants with a gestational age lesser than 28 weeks, the survival rates of Korea (2009), Japan (2009), and US (2003-2007) were 77.5, 89.0 and 71.6% respectively. The statistics of Korea ranked between those of Japan, USA. CONCLUSION: The survival rate of neonates admitted to NICU in Korea markedly improved from 2002 to 2009. The present study is the first report of survival rate by gestational age in Korea and will become a fundamental basis for further improvement in neonatal care.