Connatal Pneumonia and Mortality in Newborns Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary Care Center

Alcantara-Manzueta S and Mateo-Michelis CO

Published on: 2025-03-19

Abstract

Introduction: Respiratory pathologies belong to the diseases prevalent during childhood, affecting all age groups, especially the extremes of life, thus leading to a higher risk of death. In this order, connatal pneumonia occurs, which, regardless of gestational age, contributes a high burden to the mortality rate in this period; which motivates interventions based on timely identification during the prenatal period with a focus on maternal care, to improve survival and quality of care in the long term.

Material and Methods: A descriptive, observational study was carried out, with retrospective data collection, with the aim of determining mortality from connatal pneumonia in neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the San Lorenzo De Los Mina Maternal and Child Hospital, during the period June 2023 to May 2024. The universe consisted of 1390 patients admitted to the NICU, of which 57 met the inclusion criteria for the clinical criterion Connatal pneumonia.

Results: During the study period, live births were registered, of which 48.27% were Dominicans; Haitians 51.64%. In the NICU, 21.62% of live births were admitted, with 4.10% of cases due to congenital pneumonia and 95.90% due to other pathologies. Total deaths were 13.3% of admissions, with 14.59% due to congenital pneumonia and 85.41% due to other causes, resulting in a mortality rate due to congenital pneumonia of 0.42%. Of the cases of congenital pneumonia, 52.63% were male and 47.37% female. Most cases occurred in neonates with gestational age of 37-41 weeks (57.89%), and in terms of birth weight, 50.88% weighed less than 2500 grams and 49.12% more than 2500 grams.