[Follow-up of infants with birth weight under 1,500 g]. / Seguimiento de niños con peso al nacer inferior a 1,500 g.

A prospective study of 199 children with birth weight less than 1,500 g was done. 86 boys and 113 girls, 141 (71%) adequate for gestational age and 58 (29%) small for gestational age. At follow-up 43 (21.6%) infants were lost to control, 17 (7%) moved to other places and 7 (3.5%) died in the first year of life. In the first year of life, infants whose birthweights were adequate for gestational age had been hospitalized more frequently and the small for dates showed higher percentage of undernutrition. After the second year of life, it was possible to know the impairment. It was found 7.4% of cerebral palsy, 2.9% of hipoacusia and 2.2% of retinopathy of prematurity, these diagnosis were most frequent in children that were adequate for gestational age. We concluded that small for dates infants are at risk of undernutrition and that those adequate for gestational age are at risk of permanent sequelae.

[Neurologic development in children with birth weight under 1,000 grams]. / Evolución neurológica de niños con peso al nacer inferior 1,000 gramos.

A follow up study of 27 children with birth weight less than 1,000 g was done. Their mean birth weight was 881.2 g +/- 102.2 g and gestational age 27.2 +/- 1.8 weeks. One child died at four months of age and four children were lost to follow up. Twenty two patients were followed for 43.6 months, range 2 to 6 years. At follow up seven children (31.8%) showed evidence of neurologic sequelae, six with spastic signs and one with cicatricial retrolental fibroplasia. All children with neurological sequelae had evidence of intracranial hemorrhage. Fifteen of 22 children under effective follow up are apparently normal.

[Height, weight and head circumference according to gestational age in newborn infants born before 35 weeks]. / Talla, peso y perímetro craneano según edad gestacional en recién nacidos de menos de 35 semanas.

A retrospective and collaborative study was done in Santiago, Chile, in order to obtain national data on birth-weight, height and head circumference of babies born at 24 to 34 weeks of gestation: 370 babies with reliable gestational age, single pregnancies and no maternal nor fetal morbidity were included in the study. Babies were born in three government and one private hospitals from 1982 to 1987. Mean birthweight, height and head circumference for each gestational age from 24 to 34 weeks are presented in tables with their S.D. and charts +/- 1.5 S.D. The national use of these tables and curves is recommended.

Estudio computarizado de morbilidad y mortalidad en recien nacidos. / Computerized study of morbidity and mortality in newborn infants

Se efectua un estudio computadorizado para conocer la morbimortalidad en la Unidad de Neonatologia de la Maternidad del Hospital Salvador. Durante el periodo en estudio (5 meses) nacen 4.644 ninos de los cuales 743 (15,9%) se ingresan a la Unidad de Neonatologia por tener un peso de nacimiento inferior a 2000g. o presentar algun cuadro morbido. El estudio demostro que 24,5% de los recien nacidos ingresados a la Unidad peso menos de 2.500g. y que la edad gestacional fue inferior a 37 semanas en 27,5%.Las morbilidades mas frecuentes fueron: Ictericia (86,4%), Infecciones (16,7%) y Sindrome de Dificultad Respiratoria (9,3%). La tasa de mortalidad fue 9,4% y la letalidad 5,9%, el grupo mas afectado fue aquel con peso de nacimiento inferior a 1.500g., con 88% para el menor de 1.000g y 20% entre 1.001 y 1.500g. La evaluacion computacional de la morbimortalidad neonatal resulta de extraordinario interes tanto por la posibilidad de conocer rapidamente los problemas prioritarios y por ende adecuar los recursos para su manejo, como por la alternativa de combinar distintos parametros que nos permite conocer morbimortalidad por causa especifica, peso al nacer y desarrollo intrauterino que es muy dificil definir cuando se trabaja con un promedio de 12.000 partos anuales

Morbilidad y mortalidad de recien nacidos con peso de nacimiento inferior a 1.500 gramos. / Morbidity and mortality of newborn infants with birth weight less than 1,500 grams

Se estudian 121 RN con PN inferior a 1.500 g., nacidos en la Maternidad del Salvador el ano 1982. La morbilidad mas frecuente fue la ictericia con un 54,6%, le siguen los problemas metabolicos y el S.D.R. La mortalidad global del grupo fue de 61,2% con una mortalidad del 100% para el grupo con PN inferior a 750 g. La primera causa de muerte fue prematurez extrema, le siguen en frecuencia el SDR y luego la hemorragia intracraneana

Screening of Chilean plants for anticancer activity. I.

Extracts prepared from 519 samples of plant material were evaluated for anticancer activity against the usual systems. The results of the antitumor testing showed that 156 of these extracts gave initial indications of anticancer activity in one or more tumor systems. The activity was confirmed in 14 samples.