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Biomedical subjects

M Mokhachane

Publications and source records attributed to M Mokhachane.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Survival of very-low-birth-weight infants according to birth weight and gestational age in a public hospital.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the survival rates for infants weighing 500 - 1 499 g according to birth weight (BW) and gestational age (GA). DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study. Pregnancy and delivery data were collected soon after birth and neonatal data at discharge or at death. SETTING: Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBH), a public-sector referral hospital, affiliated to the University of the Witwatersrand. SUBJECTS: Live births weighing between 500 g and 1 499 g delivered at or admitted to CHBH from January 2000 to December 2002. OUTCOME MEASURES: BW and GA-specific survival rates for all live infants born at CHBH and for those admitted for neonatal care. RESULTS: Seventy-two per cent of infants survived until discharge. The survival to discharge rate was 32% for infants weighing < 1 000 g, and 84% for those weighing 1 000 - 1 499 g. Survival rates at 26, 27 and 28 weeks' gestation were 38%, 50% and 65% respectively. Survival rates for infants admitted to the neonatal unit were better than rates for all live births, especially among those weighing < 1 000 g or with a GA < 28 weeks. There was a marked increase in survival between the 900 - 999 g and 1 000 - 1 099 g weight groups. Provision of antenatal care, caesarean section, female gender and an Apgar score more than 5 at 1 or 5 minutes were associated with better survival to hospital discharge. CONCLUSION: Survival among infants weighing less than 1 000 g is poor. In addition to severe prematurity, the poor survival among these infants (< 1 000 g) is most likely related to the fact that they were not offered mechanical ventilation. Mechanical ventilation should be offered to infants weighing < 1 000 g as it may improve their survival even in institutions with limited resources.

Apgar Score↗
PubMed1999

Survival of low-birth-weight infants at Baragwanath Hospital--1950-1996.

OBJECTIVES: To examine changes in survival rates among low-birth-weight (LBW) infants between the years 1950 and 1996. METHODS: Survival figures were analysed for LBW infants managed at Baragwanath Hospital, a tertiary care centre in Soweto, Johannesburg, over four periods spanning five decades. RESULTS: The overall mortality rates of LBW infants decreased markedly between the early 1950s and the period 1995/96. By the mid-1990's approximately four times the number of infants with birth weight less than 1,500 g were surviving compared with the early 1950s. The reduction in mortality rates occurred in all LBW groups during the first three decades. However, since 1981 infants who weighed less than 1,500 g at birth were the major contributors to the overall reduction in mortality. Between the years 1981/82 and 1995/96, survival increased significantly from 64% to 79% for infants with birth weight 1,000-1,499 g, and from 14% to 32% for those with birth weight less than 1,000 g. Since infants in the latter group were seldom offered mechanical ventilation or artificial surfactant, a large part of these increases in survival can be attributed to improvement in the general level of care. CONCLUSION: There have been dramatic improvements in the survival of LBW infants over this time period at Baragwanath Hospital. Although newer interventions such as mechanical ventilation and artificial surfactant have played a significant role, improvement in care at primary and secondary levels has been of major importance.

Hospitals, Urban↗