2025 Volume 61 Issue 2 Pages 256-261
Background: Infants at twenty-two weeks of gestation are considered the lower limit of extrauterine viability, and the mortality rate is higher compared to infants at 23 weeks of gestation.
Methods: We retrospectively investigated the complications and mortality rates in 8 infants at 22 weeks of gestation（22-week group）and 16 infants at 23 weeks（23-week group）born between 2014 and 2021 using medical records.
Results: Five cases（63％）in the 22-week group died during NICU hospitalization, compared to two cases（13％） in the 23-week group. The rates of prenatal factors such as maternal antenatal steroids, and treatments including indomethacin prophylaxis, hydrocortisone, COX inhibitors or ligation for patent ductus arteriosus were similar between the two groups.
Discussion: The overall mortality rate was significantly higher in the 22-week infants than in the 23-week infants even though their treatments were similar. This suggests that immaturity of various organs at the 22-week infants including adrenal function, cardiac function and coagulation function had a significant impact on the outcomes.
