WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

*Dhilal Shahin Ali and Sahar Elham Karany

ABSTRACT

Background: Newborns with transient tachypnea have a slower rate of lung fluid clearance after birth. Respiratory distress characterized by retractions, flaring, and grunting, as well as a breathing frequency greater than 60 breaths per minute, are its hallmarks. As a result, the patient is admitted to the newborn intensive care unit (NICU). After birth, these symptoms can go away 48–72 hours, but occasionally they last longer. Objectives: to assess the risk factors predicting prolonged hospitalization among infants with transient tachypnea of newborn. Methods: This prospective study included both term and preterm who were diagnosed with TTN at Ibin Sina and Al Batool Teaching Hospitals in Mosul between June 2024, and January 2025. One hundred and twenty randomly chosen patients with Transient Tachypnea of Newborns which last less than 3 days were included in the study. They were compared with one hundred controls who had Transient Tachypnea of Newborns but last more than 3 days. In addition to the patient name and gender, the questionnaire consists of three main sections: the first asks questions about peri-natal information, the second asks questions about post-natal information, and the third asks questions about laboratory findings. Results: Initially, A total of 943 newborns were enrolled in this study, of them; 723 newborns were excluded; due to major congenital anomalies (5 patients), perinatal asphyxia (22 patients), or diseases other than TTN (696 patients). Statistically significant difference was found between the study groups regarding male gender (P value=0.046), median of birth weight (P value <0.001), median of gestational age (P value <0.001), number of small for gestational age (P value =0.021), number of cesarean section (P value=0.022), median of Apgar score at 5 minutes (P value =0.013), number of antenatal steroid use (P value <0.001), median of initial oxygen saturation (P value=0.002), hospital stay (P value <0.001), median duration of ventilation (P value = 0.023), and median of WBC counts (P value=0.003). Conclusion: Male gender, low birth weight, preterm delivery, small for gestational age, low Apgar score at 5 minutes, cesarean section, antenatal steroid use, low initial oxygen saturation and high WBC counts are more associated with prolonged transient tachypnea of newborn. Raised inflammatory markers alone can’t predicted the need for prolonged hospital stay.