EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE TINY PREMATURE INFANT

Fourteen of 15 surviving infants with birth weights between 960 and 1,100 gm and 14 healthy mature infants born after July 1968 were examined 11¼ to 33½ months after birth. Eleven infants in each group had normal neurological examinations while three mature and one low birth-weight (LBW) infant had borderline results. Two LBW infants had neurologic deficits. All electroencephalogram patterns were normal except for one in a mature infant. Mean IQ scores were identical for both groups (100 LBW; 101 mature), as were developmental performance and social quotients. In contrast to the grim predictions of the past, these preliminary data suggest a more encouraging prognosis for the surviving tiny premature infant.