Very small Australians . . .

The outcome of extremely low birthweight survivors born during 1979 and 1980 has previously been reported by the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group at the ages of 2, 5, and 8 years. In this issue (page F159) the neurosensory outcome of 90% of the 88 survivors to 14 years is reported. Only ten per cent have cerebral palsy but including visual, hearing, and cognitive impairments 14% were judged to be severely and 15% moderately disabled. Mild disability (defined as ambulatory cerebral palsy with minimal limitation of movement or an IQ between 1 and 2 standard deviations below the mean for normal birthweight controls) was present in 25%, and 46% were normal. The moderate and severe disabilities were all identified at earlier ages, and it is reassuring in this respect that only one of the 9 children who could not be assessed at 14 years had a severe or moderate disability when assessed at age 8. Information from another era of neonatal intensive care, of course, …