Management of premature neonates

The authors report a retrospective study of 133 premature neonates hospitalized in the neonate unit of Ibn El Jazzar's hospital of Kairouan from the 1st January 2003 till 31st December 2003. The sex ratio was 1.04. The birth's weight varied between 750 and 3200 g, with an average of 1614 g. The mother was primiparous in 26.2 % of the cases and multiparous (≥4 gestations) in 25.4 % of the cases. Among the causes of prematurity, there are ovular causes in 39.8% of the cases and uterine in 8.3% of the cases. A chronic maternal disease was observed in 6.2% of the cases. Among the prematures, 75.9% suffered from a respiratory distress syndrome caused by hyaline membrane disease in 30.7% of cases. Materno-fetal infection was bacteriologically confirmed only in 14.3% of cases. Among the prematures, 41.3% have presented a nosocomial infection. The mortality rate was 39.1%. The causes of death were dominated by hyaline membrane disease (46.2%) and nosocomial infection (21.2%). Later, 2.9% of neurologic sequela and 8.8% of respiratory sequela were noted. © 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.