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Most extremely preterm infants (<28 weeks' gestation) experience intermittent episodes of hypoxemia and bradycardia while in the neonatal intensive care unit. Whether these events influence the risk for long-term neurodevelopmental impairment is unknown.
Investigators of the Canadian Oxygen Trial performed a post hoc analysis of 1019 preterm infants (23–27 weeks' gestation) who were randomized to pulse oximetry target ranges of 85% to 89% or 91% to 95%. The percentages of recorded time with hypoxemia were 0.4% and 13.5% for infants in the lowest and highest deciles, respectively. Prolonged hypoxemic episodes, defined as peripheral saturation <80% for >1 minute, were associated with a 3.4-fold increase in the odds of death or disability at 18…