EFFECT OF MAINTENANCE OF "NORMAL" SKIN TEMPERATURE ON SURVIVAL OF INFANTS OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT

Abstract

Survival rates of premature infants weighing 1,000-1,500 gm at birth were compared in a series of infants placed in a special incubator designed to regulate skin temperature at 36.0°C (96.5°F) by means of infrared radiation and in a group of controls placed in a standard incubator warmed only by circulating air to an ambient temperature of 31.1-32.2°C (88-90°F). Improvement in survival among the babies whose skin temperature was maintained at 36.0°C was significant principally in those infants weighing between 1,251 and 1,500 gm at birth. It is suggested that this increased survival was due to the avoidance of the metabolic stresses consequent to cooling in this group of small infants who lack maturity but who are potentially capable of living when their needs are adequately supplied.