Effects of delayed cord clamping in very-low-birth-weight infants

• Published in: Journal of perinatology Vol. 31; no. S1; pp. S68 - S71
• Main Authors: Oh, W, Fanaroff, A A, Carlo, W A, Donovan, E F, McDonald, S A, Poole, W K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Nature Publishing Group 01.04.2011
• Subjects: Age; Babies; Birth; Birth weight; Birth weight, Low; Blood pressure; Blood transfusion; Childrens health; Clamping; Constriction; Delivery, Obstetric - methods; Gestational age; Health aspects; Hematocrit; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; Infants; Infants (Newborn); Low-birth-weight; Morbidity; Neonates; Pediatrics; Physical growth; Physiological aspects; Resuscitation; Sepsis; Statistical analysis; Transfusion; Umbilical Cord; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0743-8346; 1476-5543
• DOI: 10.1038/jp.2010.186

Delayed cord clamping (DCC) may be beneficial in very-preterm and very-low-birth-weight infants. This study was a randomized unmasked controlled trial. It was performed at three centers of the NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) Neonatal Research Network. DCC in very-preterm and very-low-birth-weight infants will result in an increase in hematocrit levels at 4 h of age. Infants with a gestational age of 24 to 28 weeks were randomized to either early cord clamping (<10 s) or DCC (30 to 45 s). The primary outcome was venous hematocrit at 4 h of age. Secondary outcomes included delivery room management, selected neonatal morbidities and the need for blood transfusion during the infants' hospital stay. A total of 33 infants were randomized: 17 to the immediate cord clamping group (cord clamped at 7.9±5.2 s, mean±s.d.) and 16 to the DCC (cord clamped at 35.2±10.1 s) group. Hematocrit was higher in the DCC group (45±8% vs 40±5%, P<0.05). The frequency of events during delivery room resuscitation was almost identical between the two groups. There was no difference in the hourly mean arterial blood pressure during the first 12 h of life; there was a trend in the difference in the incidence of selected neonatal morbidities, hematocrit at 2, 4 and 6 weeks, as well as the need for transfusion, but none of the differences was statistically significant. A higher hematocrit is achieved by DCC in very-low-birth-weight infants, suggesting effective placental transfusion.