Extremely Preterm Birth and its Consequences

This book reviews important findings from the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn Study (ELGAN), the largest cohort study ever completed involving individuals born extremely prematurely. With a focus on pre-, peri-, and post-natal inflammation, this study identified potentially modifiable risk factors and pathways antecedent to a broad range of neurodevelopmental impairments, as well as asthma and obesity, during middle childhood. These findings will be of interest to both practicing neonatologists and developmental paediatricians, as well as researchers interested in the prevention of adverse child health outcomes and promotion of positive health among individuals born extremely preterm.

    The only book to summarise findings from the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn Study, the largest and most comprehensive cohort study ever conducted of this high-risk group.
    A comprehensive ‘one-stop-shopping’ resource.
    A broad range of neurodevelopmental outcomes are included, as well as the relationship of these outcomes to pre-, peri-, and post-natal risk factors. A focus of the study was perinatal inflammation, and the methods used to evaluate inflammation are the most comprehensive ever undertaken in an epidemiologic study of individuals born extremely preterm.
    The results of the ELGAN study will help Make a difference in the care and outcome of children born very early and make an important contribution to preventing learning and behavioural problems in children.

Olaf Dammann, Professor and Vice-Chair Department of Public Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston. He trained in linguistics and informatics (U Hamburg), medicine (U Hamburg), epidemiology (Harvard), and philosophy (U Johannesburg). He worked as a pediatrician until he started doing research full-time in 1995. His main research topics are perinatal epidemiology with a focus on brain/retina damage in preterm newborns, and philosophy of science with a focus on causation and explanation. He has received research funding from the NIH, the European Union, and several private foundations. His bibliography includes more than 200 papers and the book “Causation in Population Health Informatics and Data Science” (Springer, 2019)

Alan Leviton, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Emeritus head of the neuro-epidemiology unit, Boston Children’s Hospital. He has clinical training in neurology and research training in epidemiology, and devoted himself to identifying the exposures that most likely contribute to neurocognitive and physical limitations in high-risk children.

Thomas Michael O’Shea, MD, MPH, C. Richard Morris Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Division Chief for Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of North Carolina. For the past 35 years he has studied the epidemiology and prevention of neurodevelopmental impairments and related child health outcomes among individuals born prematurely. He was awarded the AAP Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Landmark Award in recognition of his study of the relationship of treatment with postnatal glucocorticoids to the risk of cerebral palsy among very low birth weight infants. He currently is the co-principal investigator for the third phase of the ELGAN Study.

Nigel Paneth, MD MPH, University Distinguished Professor, Departments of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Pediatrics & Human Development, Michigan State University. He is a pediatrician and perinatal and child health epidemiologist with a particular interest in the causes and prevention of childhood neurodevelopmental handicap, especially cerebral palsy (CP).