Postnatal infections have detrimental effects on mental and motor development in very preterm/VLBW infants.

Antiplatelet agents reduce spontaneous preterm birth in pregnant women at risk for preeclampsia.

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The objective of the study was to compare neonatal morbidity and long-term neurodevelopmental outcome between very preterm infants with placental underperfusion and very preterm infants with histological chorioamnionitis. STUDY DESIGN: We measured the mental and motor development at age 2 and 7 years in 51 very preterm infants with placental underperfusion and 21 very preterm infants with histological chorioamnionitis. RESULTS: At 2 years, very preterm infants with placental underperfusion had poorer mental development than very preterm infants with histological chorioamnionitis (mean [SD] 90.8 [18.3] vs 104.1 [17.2], ad-justed d ϭ 1.12, P ϭ .001). Motor development was not different between both groups (92.8 [17.2] vs 96.8 [8.7], adjusted d ϭ 0.52, P ϭ .12). At 7 years, large, although nonsignificant, effects were found for better mental and motor development and fewer behavioral problems in infants with histological chorioamnionitis.CONCLUSION: Placental pathology contributes to variance in mental development at 2 years and should be taken into account when evaluating neurodevelopmental outcome of very preterm infants.