Yvonne E Vaucher, Myriam Peralta-Carcelen, Neil N Finer, Waldemar A Carlo, Marie G Gantz, Michele C Walsh, Abbot R Laptook, Bradley A Yoder, Roger G Faix, Abhik Das, Kurt Schibler, Wade Rich, Nancy S Newman, Betty R Vohr, Kimberly Yolton, Roy J Heyne, Deanne E Wilson-Costello, Patricia W Evans, Ricki F Goldstein, Michael J Acarregui, Ira Adams-Chapman, Athina Pappas, Susan R Hintz, Brenda Poindexter, Anna M Dusick, Elisabeth C McGowan, Richard A Ehrenkranz, Anna Bodnar, Charles R Bauer, Janell Fuller, T Michael O'Shea, Gary J Myers, Rosemary D Higgins
BACKGROUND: Previous results from our trial of early treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) versus early surfactant treatment in infants showed no significant difference in the outcome of death or bronchopulmonary dysplasia. A lower (vs. higher) target range of oxygen saturation was associated with a lower rate of severe retinopathy but higher mortality. We now report longer-term results from our prespecified hypotheses. METHODS: Using a 2-by-2 factorial design, we randomly assigned infants born between 24 weeks 0 days and 27 weeks 6 days of gestation to early CPAP with a limited ventilation strategy or early surfactant administration and to lower or higher target ranges of oxygen saturation (85 to 89% or 91 to 95%)...
December 27, 2012: New England Journal of Medicine