In-Hospital Outcomes in Large for Gestational Age Infants at 22-29 Weeks of Gestation.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the risks of mortality and morbidities in large for gestational age (LGA) infants relative to appropriate for gestational age infants born at 22-29 weeks of gestation.

STUDY

DESIGN

Data on 156 587 infants were collected between 2006 and 2014 in 852 US centers participating in the Vermont Oxford Network. We defined LGA as sex-specific birth weight above the 90th centile for gestational age measured in days. Generalized additive models with smoothing splines on gestational age by LGA status were fitted on mortality and morbidity outcomes to estimate adjusted relative risks and their 95% CIs.

RESULTS

Compared with appropriate for gestational age infants, being born LGA was associated with decreased risks of mortality, respiratory distress syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus, necrotizing enterocolitis, late-onset sepsis, severe retinopathy of prematurity, and chronic lung disease. Early onset sepsis and severe intraventricular hemorrhage were increased among LGA infants, but these risks were not homogeneous across the gestational age range.

CONCLUSIONS

Being born LGA was associated with lower risks for all the examined outcomes except for early onset sepsis and severe intraventricular hemorrhage.