PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Anna C Tottman
AU  - Jane M Alsweiler
AU  - Frank H Bloomfield
AU  - Jane E Harding
ED  - ,
TI  - Presence and pattern of scarring in children born very preterm
AID  - 10.1136/archdischild-2016-311999
DP  - 2018 May 01
TA  - Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition
PG  - F277--F279
VI  - 103
IP  - 3
4099  - http://fn.bmj.com/content/103/3/F277.short
4100  - http://fn.bmj.com/content/103/3/F277.full
SO  - Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed2018 May 01; 103
AB  - The long-term scarring burden of preterm infants undergoing modern neonatal intensive care is not known. This observational cohort study aimed to document the presence and pattern of scarring in children born <30 weeks’ gestation or <1500 g birth weight and cared for at the National Women’s Health neonatal intensive care unit, Auckland, New Zealand. Children were examined at 7 years’ corrected age and the presence, size, number and distribution of scars documented. Scarring was seen in 90% of 129 children assessed, with 81% having multiple scars, 60% having large scars (85% of whom had no history of major neonatal surgery) and 75% having more than one body area scarred. Scarring was more common in boys and in children of non-European ethnicity. Despite modern neonatal intensive care practices, children born very preterm are frequently and extensively scarred at school age.