{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T15:47:39Z","timestamp":1789055259988,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773100800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Neonatal hyperglycemia is a common metabolic complication in extremely preterm (EP) infants; however, early risk factors and associated outcomes remain incompletely defined. Objective: To evaluate the association between neonatal hyperglycemia in the first postnatal week and key neonatal morbidities including early neurodevelopmental risk in EP infants. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of EP infants born in 2018\u20132019 at the Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center. Neonatal hyperglycemia was defined as a blood glucose level &gt; 8.3 mmol\/L. Maternal factors, delivery room interventions, early physiological markers, neonatal morbidities, and follow-up outcomes were compared. Propensity score matching was applied to balance the baseline demographic and perinatal differences. Results: Among 225 EP infants, 131 (58.2%) developed neonatal hyperglycemia in the first week (mild, 21.4%; moderate, 42%; severe, 36.6%). Before matching, infants with neonatal hyperglycemia had lower gestational age and birth weight and required more delivery-room surfactant, and their mothers had lower rates of premature rupture of membranes. After matching, neonatal hyperglycemia was associated with higher rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia (1.45 vs. 0.37; IRR 6.2, 95% CI 1.4\u201327.6), longer duration of invasive ventilation (19.8 \u00b1 25.3 vs. 8.9 \u00b1 24.8 days; mean difference \u221210.9 days; p = 0.042), higher postnatal steroid exposure (18.2% vs. 5.5%; OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.6\u201314.4; p = 0.040), and severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (21.6% vs. 6.4%; OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.0\u201315.5; p = 0.032). A trend toward moderate-to-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia was observed (33.3% vs. 15.9%; p = 0.054). Mortality did not differ significantly between groups; however, among non-survivors, age at death was higher in the neonatal hyperglycemia group. Conclusions: In EP infants, early neonatal hyperglycemia is associated with higher respiratory morbidity and severe ROP even after propensity score matching. These findings support neonatal hyperglycemia as a clinically relevant early risk marker and justify further prospective and interventional studies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13030387","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T09:55:38Z","timestamp":1773136538000},"page":"387","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Early Neonatal Hyperglycemia, Risk Factors, and Adverse Outcomes in Extremely Preterm Infants: A Propensity-Matched Cohort Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-7048-9300","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Safaa M. G. A.","family":"Alsayigh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3670-6887","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nuha","family":"Nimeri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar"},{"name":"Pediatric Department, Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha P.O. Box 24144, Qatar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-1826-3245","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alaa","family":"Almashhadani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amna Abdelgadir","family":"Mohamed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Omar","family":"Haidar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammed Talha","family":"Hepsen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9158-2696","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ashraf","family":"Gad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Women\u2019s Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar"},{"name":"Pediatric Department, Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha P.O. Box 24144, Qatar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Beardsall, K. (2021). Hyperglycaemia in the Newborn Infant: Physiology versus Pathology. Front. Pediatr., 9.","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2021.641306"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1873","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa0803725","article-title":"Early Insulin Therapy in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants","volume":"359","author":"Beardsall","year":"2008","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18457","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-98088-4","article-title":"Effects of early energy intake on neonatal cerebral growth of preterm newborn: An observational study","volume":"11","author":"Boscarino","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. 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