Twin Gestation and Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants

The purpose of this work was to compare the risk-adjusted incidence of death or neurodevelopmental impairment at 18 to 22 months' corrected age between twin and singleton extremely low birth weight infants. We hypothesized that twin gestation is independently associated with increased risk of death or adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 to 22 months' corrected age in these infants. We conducted a retrospective study of inborn extremely low birth weight infants admitted to Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network units between 1997 and 2005, who either died or had follow-up data available at 18 to 22 months' corrected age. Neurodevelopmental impairment, the primary outcome variable, was defined as the presence of any 1 of the following: moderate or severe cerebral palsy, severe bilateral hearing loss, bilateral blindness, Bayley Mental Developmental Index or Psychomotor Developmental Index of