Abstract Late preterm infants (LPI) are preterm infants born at a gestational age between 34 and 0/7 weeks to 36 6/7 weeks. Because of their physiologic and metabolic immaturities, they are at increased risk for a spectrum of morbidities and mortality when compared to the term infants. LPI are "great pretenders and masqueraders", as they pretend to be and masquerading as term infants. Because of their size, frequently they are treated as term infants with potential for bad consequences. In this review, the incidence and high risk factors for late preterm deliveries, early morbidities, late complications and management are described. Computerized data bases such as PubMed, OVID and Embase were searched between January 2005 and March 2012, by using the search terms, Late Preterm Infants and Near Term Infants. From this detailed search available, evidence based guidelines were incorporated in the care of these LPI.
Raju TN, Higgins RD, Stark AR, Leveno KJ. Optimizing care and outcome for late-preterm (near-term) infants: A Summary of the Workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development[J]. Pediatrics, 2006, 118: 1207-1214.
[2]
Engle WA. A recommendation for the definition of "late preterm (near term) and the birth weight system[J]. Semin Perinatol, 2006, 30 (1): 2-73.
[3]
Engle WA. Morbidity and mortality in late preterm and early term newborns: a continuum[J]. Clin Perinatol, 2011, 38(3): 493-516.
[4]
Kashu M, Narayanan M, Bhargava S, Osiovich H. Perinatal outcomes associated with preterm birth at 33 to 36 weeks' gestation: a population-based cohort study[J]. Pediatrics, 2009, 123(1): 109-113.
[5]
Selo-Ojme DO, Tewari R. Late preterm (32-36 weeks) birth in a North London hospital[J]. J Obstet Gynaecol, 2006, 26: 624-626.
[6]
Laughon SK, Reddy UM, Sun L, Zhang J. Precursors for late preterm birth in singleton gestations[J]. Obstet Gynecol, 2010, 116(5): 1047-1055.
[7]
Loftin RW, Habli M, Snyder CC, Cormier CM, Lewis DF, Defranco EA. Late preterm birth[J]. Rev Obstet Gynecol, 2010, 3(1): 1-9.
[8]
Holland MG, Refuerzo JS, Ramin SM, Saade GR, Blackwell SC. Late preterm birth: how often is it avoidable?[J]. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 2009, 201 (404): e1-4.
[9]
Reddy UM, Ko CW, Raju TN, Willinger M. Delivery indications at late preterm gestations and infant mortality rates in the United States[J]. Pediatrics, 2009, 124(1): 234-240.
[10]
Tomashek KM, Shapiro-Mendoza CK, Davidoff MJ, Petrini JR. Differences in mortality between late-preterm and term singleton infants in the United States, 1995-2002[J]. J Pediatr, 2007, 151(5): 450-456.
[11]
March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center 2007[EB//OL].[April 2, 2013]. www.marchofdimes.com/peristats.
[12]
Melamed N, Klinger G, Tenenbaum-Gavish K, Herscovici T, Linder N, Hod M, et al. Short-term neonatal outcome in low risk, spontaneous, singleton, late preterm deliveries[J]. Obstet Gynecol, 2009, 114(2 Pt 1): 253-260.
[13]
Guoyon JB, Vintejoux A, Sagot P, Burguet A, Quantin C, Ferdynus C, et al. Burgundy Perinatal Network. Neonatal outcome associated with singleton birth at 34-41 weeks of gestation[J]. Int J Epidemiol, 2010, 39(3): 769-776.
[14]
Shapiro-Mendoza CK, Tomashek KM, Kotelchuck M, Barfield W, Nannini A, Weiss J, et al. Effect of late preterm birth and maternal conditions on newborn morbidity risk[J]. Pediatrics, 2008, 121(2): e223-232.
[15]
Wang ML, Dorer DJ, Fleming M, Catlin EA. Clinical outcomes of near-term infants[J]. Pediatrics, 2004, 114(2): 372-376.
[16]
Shapiro-Mendoza CK, Tomashek KM, Kotelchuck M, Barfield W, Weiss J, Evans S. Risk factors for neonatal morbidity and mortality among "Healthy", late preterm newborns[J]. Semin Pernatol, 2006, 30 (2): 54-56.
[17]
Petrini JR, Dias T, McCormick MC, Massolo ML, Green NS, Escobar GJ. Increased risk of adverse neurological development of late preterm infants[J]. J Pediatr, 2009, 154(2): 169-176.
[18]
Lindstrom K, Lindbald F, Hjern A. Psychiatric morbidity in adolescent and young adults born preterm: a Swedish national cohort study[J]. Pediatrics, 2009, 123(1): e47-53.
[19]
Morse SB, Zheng H, Tang T, Roth J. Early school-age outcomes of late preterm infants[J]. Pediatrics, 2009, 123(4): e622-629.
[20]
Chyi LJ, Lee HC, Hintz SR, Gould JB, Sutcliffe TL. School outcomes of late preterm infants: Special needs and challenges for infants at 32 to 36 weeks gestation[J]. J Pediatr, 2008, 143(1): 25-31.
[21]
Oklahoma Infant Alliance. Caring for the late preterm infant: A Clinical Practice Guideline[EB/OL].[Sept 2010]. www.oklahomainfantalliance.org//LPI.
[22]
Ma X, Huang C, Lou S, Lv Q, Su W, Tan J, et al. Provincial Collaborative Study Group for Late-preterm Infants. The clinical outcomes of late preterm infants: a multi-center survey of Zhejiang, China[J]. J Perinat Mede, 2009, 37(6): 695-699.
[23]
Xu P, Zhang XF, Li Y, Liu XM, Qian SY. Health status and affecting factors of late-preterm infants[J]. Zhonghua Er Ke Za Zhi, 2009, 47(12): 931-934.