Clinical characteristics in twin premature infants

Abstract

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics in twin premature infants in order to provide some guidance for clinical work in future. Methods The clinical data of 593 premature infants hospitalized in Department of Pediatrics, the Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University were collected from June 2010 to June 2012, in terms of gestational age, birth weight and neonatal complications.A retrospective analysis was performed for the data.The premature infants were divided into 2 groups: study group of 131 twin premature infants and control group of 462 singleton premature infants.The 131 twin premature infants in study group were divided into large double group(n=64) and small double group(n=67) according to delivery time.The clinical data of premature infants in each group were statistically analyzed. Results The gestational age of study group was (34.23±1.90) weeks, which in control group was (33.91±1.82) weeks, and there was no significant difference between the 2 groups(t=1.689, P=0.092). The birth weight in study group[(1 921.64±414.05)g] had statistically significant difference compared with control group[(2 164.98±495.85)g] (t=-5.209, P=0.000). The study group of incidence of premature rupture of membranes was 16.79% (22/131 cases)and which in the control group was 32.68%(151/462 cases), and there was statistically significant difference between the 2 groups(χ2 =12.472, P=0.000); the incidence of neonatal asphy-xia of study group was 9.92%(13/131 cases) and that of the control group was 17.10%(79/462 cases), there was statistically significant difference between the 2 groups(χ2=4.010, P=0.045); the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome in study group was 6.87%(9/131 cases)and that in the control group was 3.03%(14/462 cases), the difference was statistically significant between the 2 groups(χ2=4.037, P=0.045); the incidence of apnea in study group was 4.58%(6/131 cases) and that in the control group was 0.65%(3/462 cases), the difference was statistically significant between the 2 groups(χ2=8.085, P=0.004); the incidence of meconium aspiration syndrome of study group was 0 and that of the control group was 3.90%(18/462 cases), there was statistically significant difference(P=0.018); the incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia of study group was 27.48%(36/131 cases)and that of the control group was 16.67%(77/462 cases), the difference was statistically significant between the 2 groups(χ2=7.738, P=0.005); the incidence of sepsis of study group [16.79%(22/131 cases)]was significantly higher than that of the control group [8.44%(39/462 cases)], and the difference was statistically significant between the 2 groups(χ2=7.715, P=0.005); the incidence of extrauterine growth retardation of study group was 6.10%(8/131 cases) and that of the control group was 2.38%(11/462 cases), the difference was statistically significant between the both groups(χ2=4.568, P=0.033). In the study group, the incidence of neonatal sepsis in big double group was 29.68%(19/64 cases), and that in small double was 14.93%(10/67 cases), there was statistically significant difference between the 2 groups(χ2=4.138, P=0.042). The other complications between the big double group and small double group had no significant difference. Conclusions The incidence rates of acute respiratory distress syndrome, apnea, neonatal hypoglycemia, sepsis and extrauterine growth retardation of twin premature infants are higher than the singleton premature infants in the neonatal period.But the incidence rate of meconium aspiration syndrome is a higher in singleton premature infants. Key words: Twin premature infant; Singleton premature infant; Clinical characteristics