Premature infants who need intensive care or surgery are less sensitive to thermal (hot and cold) sensations later in life, according to research conducted at UCL (University College London). The study, published in the journal Pain, suggests that pain and injury related to major medical interventions in early development may alter how children respond to painful stimuli much later in life.

Gestational age has long been the factor most commonly used to predict whether an extremely low-birth-weight infant survives and thrives, but four additional factors that can help predict a preemie’s outcome have been identified by the National Institutes of Health Neonatal Research Network, of which Yale is a member.

Data presented today at the Pediatric Academic Societies' Annual Meeting demonstrate that premature infants with neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) have a nearly 20% better chance of survival if they are treated with Curosurf® (poractant alfa) Intratracheal Suspension rather than either of two competing surfactant therapies.

A study of how the brain of a premature infant responds to injury has found vulnerabilities similar to those in the mature brain but also identified at least one significant difference, according to neuroscientists and neonatologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, in collaboration with scientists from the Genzyme Corporation, have identified a potential treatment for a chronic lung disease affecting premature infants.