Predicting Autism Spectrum Disorder in Very Preterm Infants.

* Abbreviations:\n ASD — : autism spectrum disorder\n CLD — : chronic lung disease\n\nChildren born preterm are known to be at higher risk for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with their term-born counterparts, with an estimated 7% prevalence of ASD based on a recent large prospective study and a meta-analysis.1,2 This high prevalence is in contrast to the currently estimated prevalence of ASD in the United States of 1.8% in the general population.3 ASD has been shown to be associated with a variety of prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal risk factors, including a variety of maternal health risk factors and medications and neonatal risk factors such as seizures, birth asphyxia, and low birth weight.4 Previously identified perinatal risk factors for ASD specific to preterm infants include factors such as low birth gestational age and birth weight, intracranial hemorrhage, and acute and chronic lung disease (CLD).5\n\nThe article by Chen et al6 in this issue of Pediatrics provides the first prospectively obtained data regarding whether there is an early developmental trajectory of prematurely born children that predicts who will develop ASD. The authors tested 319 preterm … \n\nAddress correspondence to Janet S. Soul, MDCM, Department of Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail: janet.soul{at}childrens.harvard.edu