Objective: Recent studies suggest that for neonates treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), children with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) have poorer neurodevelopmental outcome than children with other diagnoses. We therefore analyzed the neurodevelopmental outcome at 31/2 years of age in 130 neonatal EC MO survivors with 6 different primary diagnoses.Study design: Children were assessed with the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. and a neurologic/physical examination; 12 Factors related to infant, characteristics and ECMO/hospital course including primary diagnosis were identified as independent variables. Dependent variables included test scores and 2 outcome categories: functional status (normal, risk, abnormal) and major neurologic sequelae (presence or absence). Statistical tools included chi-squared analysis, t test, analysis of variance, and discriminant and regression analysis.Results: No significant differences were found between diagnostic groups in functional status or neurologic sequelae. Hospital days was the only variable consistently expressed in all analyses as having significant influence on the outcome measures. This was not a factor of the longer hospital days experienced by children with CDH.Conclusion: Neurodevelopmental outcome in neonatal ECMO is multifactorial. Although hospital days has the greatest association with outcome at age 31/2 years, these days likely reflect degree of illness and various complications that are independent of diagnostic group. Further study is required to determine which factors influencing the length of hospital stay may be the best predictor of long-term outcome.

Eleven high-risk infants who had normal auditory brainstem responses at the time of discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit were found on follow-up between 13 and 48 months later to have significant sensorineural hearing loss. All 11 infants were the products of high-risk pregnancies and deliveries. Birth weights ranged from 890 to 3,700 g, but seven had birth weights of more than 1,500 g. Gestational ages ranged from 28 to 42 weeks. The length of hospitalization ranged from 45 to 167 days. All of the infants had respiratory distress, requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation with resultant chronic lung disease. All of the infants had received pancuronium, morphine, ampicillin, and gentamicin, and ten had also received furosemide and chlorothiazide. Other frequent clinical complications included abnormal CNS findings during the neonatal intensive care unit stay (ten infants), acidosis (pH less than 7.25) on the initial blood gas test (eight infants), and persistent fetal circulation in all seven infants with birth weights greater than 1,500 g. Developmentally, eight of nine children tested between 12 and 36 months of age were normal in all respects other than the hearing loss and the related language impairment. We conclude that infants who have been very ill in the newborn period, including term infants, may remain at risk for development of significant sensorineural hearing loss even though they have passed an initial auditory brainstem responses screening test in the newborn period.