Placental pathology and long-term neurodevelopment of very preterm infants

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to compare neonatal morbidity and long-term neurodevelopmental outcome between very preterm infants with placental underperfusion and very preterm infants with histological chorioamnionitis. STUDY DESIGN: We measured the mental and motor development at age 2 and 7 years in 51 very preterm infants with placental underperfusion and 21 very preterm infants with histological chorioamnionitis. RESULTS: At 2 years, very preterm infants with placental underperfusion had poorer mental development than very preterm infants with histological chorioamnionitis (mean [SD] 90.8 [18.3] vs 104.1 [17.2], adjusted d = 1.12, P = .001). Motor development was not different between both groups (92.8 [17.2] vs 96.8 [8.7], adjusted d = 0.52, P = .12). At 7 years, large, although nonsignificant, effects were found for better mental and motor development and fewer behavioral problems in infants with histological chorioamnionitis. CONCLUSION: Placental pathology contributes to variance in mental development at 2 years and should be taken into account when evaluating neurodevelopmental outcome of very preterm infants.