RT Book, Section A1 Malcolm, William F. SR Print(0) ID 1105544984 T1 The High-Risk Infant: Commonalities of the NICU Graduate Born Premature and at Term T2 Beyond the NICU: Comprehensive Care of the High-Risk Infant YR 2015 FD 2015 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-174858-2 LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1105544984 RD 2024/10/03 AB When people think of the high-risk infant, most often a premature baby comes to mind. This is because the daily census of an average neonatal intensive care unit is dominated by infants born preterm. While only about 10% of NICU admissions are for prematurity, with the majority of admissions being for sepsis evaluation and treatment, birth complications, or respiratory concerns, it is actually moderately premature infants who are the largest group of infants to receive days of neonatal intensive care. These more common acute diagnoses usually only require short NICU hospitalizations and, generally, long-term outcomes are favorable. Premature and very sick newborns often have a prolonged convalescence period, during which time their acute medical issues slowly improve, but they are also exposed to an environment that can have significant effects on their overall health. So, it is really the duration of NICU stay, in addition to illness severity and underlying diagnoses, which contributes to some NICU graduates being considered high risk in terms of long-term medical and developmental outcomes.