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Background: Very low birthweight (VLBW) premature infant follow-up studies report on single developmental outcome variables but do not assess profiles of development., Aims: To identify developmental profiles of VLBW premature infants based on cognitive and language development and their association with demographic, perinatal, and behavior variables., Study Design: Retrospective chart review., Subjects: 117 children<1250 g BW seen at 18 months post-term on the Bayley Scales-III and Child Behavior Checklist 1 ½-5 (CBCL 1 ½-5), a behavior problem questionnaire. Demographic and perinatal variables were obtained from medical records., Outcome Measures: Bayley Cognitive, Expressive Language, and Receptive Language scores were used to cluster the subjects into developmental profiles. Demographic, perinatal, and CBCL variables were analyzed as they related to clusters., Results: Children were clustered into 4 groups based on their Bayley Cognitive, Expressive Language, and Receptive Language scores: Consistently High, Consistently Average, Average with Delayed Expressive Language, and Consistently Low. Socioeconomic status, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, Grades III-IV intraventricular hemorrhage, and summary Behavior Problems and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity (ADHD) Problems scores were significantly related to clusters., Conclusion: Cluster analysis defined distinct outcome groups in VLBW premature children and provides an informative means of identifying factors related to developmental outcome. This approach may be useful in predicting later outcome and determining which groups of children will require early intervention., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Discordant birth weight twins have been shown to have high rates of adverse perinatal outcomes, but little is known about their growth and development., Aim: To determine whether smaller and larger birth weight premature twins in concordant and discordant birth weight groups differ on measures of physical growth and intelligence at 3 years., Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Eight-four children, 52 concordant and 32 discordant birth weight twin pairs, were measured for height, weight, and head circumference and on intelligence at 3 years. Perinatal and demographic variables, including birth weight, head circumference, small for gestational age, zygosity, in vitro fertilization, gender and social class were recorded., Results: Smaller and larger birth weight twins did not differ significantly from each other on any growth parameters in either concordant or discordant birth weight groups at 3 years of age. Smaller birth weight twins in the discordant birth weight group performed significantly less well on Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ scores (Verbal IQ for smaller twins was 8.6 points lower, p<0.005; Performance IQ, 11.9 points lower, p<0.03; Full Scale IQ, 12.4 points lower, p<0.004), but there were no significant intra-twin differences between larger and smaller birth weight concordant twins., Conclusions: Smaller discordant birth weight twins performed significantly less well on intelligence, although they did not differ significantly from their larger twins on growth parameters at 3 years old. We conclude that smaller discordant birth weight twins had less optimal intra-uterine environments than their larger birth weight twin, which affected both their birth weights and brain development., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)