This study examined risk factors for timing and cause of death for extremely preterm infants > or = 23 weeks and < 28 weeks. There were 479 liveborn infants and 98 deaths reviewed over a ten-year period. Thirty-two deaths (33%) occurred on the first day of life and 72 (75%) in the first month of life. Lower gestation and intrauterine growth restriction were significant risk factors for death. Most deaths occurred in the first month of life and at the lowest gestation in the first week.