Epidemioclinical Profile of Premature Infants at the Neonatology Unit of the Mali Hospital 2012-2015

Introduction: A newborn is preterm when it is born before 37 weeks of amenorrhoea. Preterm births account for 11.1% of live births worldwide, 60% of which are in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and the second leading cause of mortality in children under 5 years of age. The aim of this study was to investigate prematurity in the neonatology unit of the Mali Hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study from January 2012 to December 2015 of premature newborns from 28 to 36 weeks of amenorrhea in the neonatology unit of Mali Hospital. Results: From January 2012 to December 2015, we recorded 1692 inpatient newborns, including 614 preterm newborns, a frequency of 36.29%. The sex ratio was 1.43 in favor of boys. The average age of the mothers was 23.9 years with a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 47 years. The majority were housewives (92.7%). The pregnancy was poorly monitored in 51.8% of the mothers. The average gestational age was 32.9 days with extremes of 25 and 36 days. The most frequent mode of delivery was vaginal delivery (93.2%), with late prematurity in 51.5%, moderate prematurity (24.4%), extreme prematurity (18.7%) and very premature (5.4%). The mean birth weight was 1464 g with a standard deviation of 485 g and 2751 g. Prematurity was associated with neonatal infection in 49.4% of newborns, perinatal anoxia (13.9%) and hypotrophy (2.6%). The most frequent maternal risk factors were fever (83.4%), twinship (38.9%) and high blood pressure (8.6%). The average length of hospitalization was 9.75 days with extremes of 0 and 68 days. We recorded a cure rate of 57.7%, a death rate of 35.7% and a dropout rate of 6.7%. Conclusion: Prematurity is frequent in the neonatology unit of the Mali Hospital. We observed a high frequency among women of extreme age and low socio-economic and educational level. In our study we also noted a high mortality rate proportional to gestational age.