ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Descriptive study of the development of children 5 years after neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). DESIGN: Descriptive. METHOD: 98 treated children were subjected to a paediatric, neurological, psychological, physiotherapeutic and logopaedic examination. The children came from 2 Dutch ECMO-centres (the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam and the University Medical Centre St Radboud in Nijmegen, The Netherlands). RESULTS: Neurological disorders were found in 17 of the 98 investigated children, and in 6 cases these were serious. Among the remaining 92 children, 24 had motor disorders and 11 had delayed cognitive development. The average IQ (100.5) was within the normal range. CONCLUSION: A significant proportion ofthe children that had been treated with ECMO had long-term morbidity in the form of neurological defects and developmental disorders.
