MEETING ABSTRACT Open Access The management of extremely preterm infants

Extreme prematurity is associated with an increased risk of mortality, morbidities and long-term neurodevelop-mental impairment. Optimizing prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care is essential to improve long-term outcome of extremely preterm babies. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) has been asso-ciated with a poorer neurological outcome and prenatal care should aim to an optimal balance between mini-mizing fetal injury or death versus the risks of iatrogenic preterm delivery. In the clinical phase of IUGR, hemo-dynamic adaptation occurs with blood flow redistribu-tion preferentially to the brain, the so-called “brain sparing effect”. However, controversy remains as to whether “brain-sparing ” indicates a higher risk of brai