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Aim: To compare risk-adjusted outcomes at 18-22 months corrected age for extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants who never received phototherapy (NoPTx) to those who received any phototherapy (PTx) in the NICHD Neonatal Research Network randomized trial of Aggressive vs. Conservative Phototherapy. Methods: Outcomes at 18-22 months corrected age included death, neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI), and Bayley Scales Mental Developmental Index (MDI). Regression models evaluated the independent association of PTx with adverse outcomes controlling for center and other potentially confounding variables. Results: Of 1972 infants, 216 were NoPTx and 1756 were PTx. For the entire 501-1000 g BW cohort, PTx was not independently associated with death or NDI (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.60 -1.20), death, or adverse neurodevelopmental endpoints. However, among infants 501-750 g BW, the rate of significant developmental impairment with MDI<50 was significantly higher for NoPTx (29%) than PTx (12%) (p=0.004). Conclusions: Phototherapy did not appear to be independently associated with death or NDI for the overall ELBW group. Whether PTx increases mortality could not be excluded due to bias from deaths before reaching conservative treatment threshold. The higher rate of MDI<50 in the 501-750g BW NoPTx group is concerning, and consistent with NRN Trial results
