The Relationship between Evolutionary Premature Infants at the Age of Two and the Number of Nucleated Red Blood Cell Peripheral Blood

Despite the increased chance of premature survived infants, the morbidity of these infants is still significant. The number of NRBCs in the cord of these neonates may be effective in predicting the long-term complications of these neonates. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the number of nucleated red blood cells in the peripheral blood of preterm infants and the same prognosis about children at the age of two.

The present study is a cohort study, has been performed on 290 preterm infants younger than 32 weeks old admitted in neonatal ward of Ghaem hospital of Mashhad during years of 93 to 96 with available sampling. Cord blood samples were taken to determine NRBC/100WBC count. Data have been collected by a researcher-made checklist including neonatal, maternal, and laboratory characteristics. Infantschr('39') development up to two years of age has been studied. NRBC/100WBC numbers of infants were compared with normal prognosis (Denver 2 normal test) and abnormal prognosis (death or developmental delay).

Of 290 neonates, 160 of them (55.2%) had normal development, 61 cases (21%) died and 69 neonates (23.8%) had abnormal development. The mean number of mm2 /NRBC and NWBC/100WBC in neonates with abnormal prognosis were 4025.11±210.04 and 31.83±15.14 and in normal neonates were 367.47±76.91 and 5.5±5.29, respectively (p<0.001). An absolute NRBC count> 300/mm2 suggests a poor prognosis at the age of two with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 63%.

According to these results the mean of NRBC2/mm2 and NRBC/100WBC can be helpful in determining neonatal prognosis at the age of two.