Recently Naumburg et al. (1) presented data indicating there is an association between a brief exposure of pure oxygen at birth and childhood lymphatic leukemia. In a population based case-control study, the authors searched for predisposing factors exerting their influence early in life. Five hundred seventy-eight children with lymphatic leukemia were identified through the Swedish Cancer Register and each matched with one control randomly selected from the Swedish Birth Register.

Fortunately, no association was found between childhood lymphatic leukemia and birth related factors such as mode of delivery, birth weight, gestational age, small or large for gestational age, pulmonary disorders, or congenital malformations. Low Apgar scores (1 min < 4, or 5 min < 6) did not give significant increased risk for developing leukemia. By contrast, oxygen given by mask resulted in an odds ratio (OR) of 2.87 (95% CI = 1.21–6.82). When these data were split up into 0–2 min and 3–10 min oxygen exposure an OR for the latter group of 3.54 (95% CI = 1.16–10.80) was found. Oxygen exposure later in the neonatal period did not reveal an increased risk for childhood lymphatic leukemia.

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