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Learning More Than Three Times as Much as We Ever Knew about Outcomes of Very Preterm or Very Low Birthweight Triplets :

November 23, 2018

Triplets are a rarity and it is not likely that those of us in active practice have more than one or two sets in our practice.

Triplets are a rarity and it is not likely that those of us in active practice have more than one or two sets in our practice. In addition, when triplets are born, they are apt to be delivered as very preterm or to be very low birthweight (VLBW), prompting parents to ask us about the long-term health implications.  To answer those parental concerns, Shah et al. (10.1542/peds.2018-1938) share with us the results of a retrospective matched cohort study of triplets who were very preterm or VLBW born between 2007 and 2013 and whose birth and ongoing outcome data were part of an international registry database.  The authors looking at mortality and severe neonatal morbidity between 6079 triplets and 18, 232 singleton births matched for the same gestational age or birthweight, adjusting for potential confounders.  The good news is that there were no differences in the outcome measures studied, meaning that triplets born very preterm or VLBW have the same risk of mortality and morbidity as a singleton baby.  Unfortunately, there are still additional risks that go with being born preterm, just no increased risk if there are three infants born preterm or VLBW at once as triplets.  There are a lot more data regarding this large series of triplets to be gleaned from reading this study, so don’t just double your learning curve, but triple it by reading this interesting study of one of the largest if not largest series of triplet births ever described.

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