European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Globally, prematurity affects 15 million newborns every year with numbers increasing in most countries according to the latest trend of data.1 Respiratory distress is one of the most common reasons because of which a neonate is admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), earlier known as hyaline membrane disease, is one of the causes of respiratory distress in a preterm baby and is a known complication of prematurity.2 Aims & objective : To study the clinical outcome of respiratory distress syndrome in preterm neonates. Material & Methods: This prospective study was conducted in NICU on all preterm neonates meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria, after taking informed written consent from parents/guardians of the neonates providing all the necessary information about the study. All enrolled preterm neonates were observed for development of any complication such as intracranial hemorrhage, pneumothorax, ventilator associated pneumonia, sepsis, retinopathy of prematurity, bronchopulmonary dysplasia Results : In this study , males were 44 (53.65%) and females were 38 (46.34%). Sepsis was the most common clinical outcome seen in 52  (63%) neonates, followed by retinopathy of prematurity in 8 (9.7%), intraventricular hemorrhage in 2(2.4%), ventilator associated pneumonia in 2(2.4%),  and suspected broncho-pulmonary dysplasia in 2(2.4%). Conclusion: Respiratory distress syndrome is significant cause of mortality and morbidity in preterm neonates in any country