Respiratory distress syndrome and birth order in premature twins
D Hackinga, A Watkinsa, S Frasera, R Wolfeb, T Nolanb, on behalf of Australia and New Zealand Neonatal Network
a Department of
Paediatrics, Mercy Hospital for Women, Clarendon Street, East
Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia, b Clinical Epidemiology and
Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal
Children's Hospital and Department of Paediatrics, University of
Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
Correspondence to: Dr Hacking, International Child Health Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK doug.hacking{at}imm.ox.ac.uk
Accepted 12 November 2000
OBJECTIVE
To determine
the effect of birth order on respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in the
outcome of twins in a large premature population managed in a modern
neonatal intensive care unit.
METHODSAn historical
cohort study design was used to analyse the neonatal outcomes of 301 premature liveborn twin sibling pairs of between 23 and 31 weeks
gestation from the Australia and New Zealand Neonatal Network 1995 database.
RESULTSAmong the 56 twin sibling pairs who were discordant for RDS, the second twin was
affected in 41 cases (odds ratio (OR) 2.7, 95% confidence interval
(CI) 1.5 to 5.3). The excess risk of RDS in the second twin increased
with gestation and was statistically significant for twins above 29 weeks gestation (OR 4.4, 95% CI 1.6 to 15).
CONCLUSIONSThere is a
significant increased risk of RDS associated with being the second born
of premature twins, which appears to depend on gestation.
Keywords: respiratory distress syndrome; twins; premature; birth order; gestation
© 2001 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Shinwell, E S, Blickstein, I, Lusky, A, Reichman, B
(2004). Effect of birth order on neonatal morbidity and mortality among very low birthweight twins: a population based study. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed.
89: F145-F148
[Abstract] [Full Text]
eLetters:
Read all eLetters
- Birth order and RDS : Some controversy in the literature
- N Naor
- Fetal Neonatal Ed. Online, 20 Jul 2001 [Full text]
- Re: Birth order and RDS : Some controversy in the literature
- Doug Hacking
- Fetal Neonatal Ed. Online, 26 Jul 2001 [Full text]
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Read responses to this article
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in ADC Online
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
