Sir.—In the January 1989 issue of AJDC, Georgieff et al1 report on more aggressive early neonatal nutritional management, changes in cardiopulmonary management, and a lower incidence of chronic disease in 1986 compared with 1982. This has promoted earlier onset of, and a more rapid rate of, postnatal growth that extends to the first year of follow-up. The authors compared 37 of 82 very-low-birth-weight infants born in 1982 with 29 of 46 infants born in 1986, representing follow-up rates of 57% and 64%, respectively.
However, only 32 of the infants born in 1982 and 18 of those born in 1986 were followed up until 2 years of age. Thus, 32 (39%) of 82 infants and 18 (39%) of 46 infants received follow-up until 1 year of age. The authors compared the neonatal data of the 47 infants born in 1982 with those of the 29 infants born in 1986