Objective To compare the efficacy of caffeine citrate and aminophylline in treatment of apnea of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Methods Totally 100 VLBW infants who were born and inhospitaled at our hospital during March 2013 to March 2015 were analyzed.48 VLBW infants during March 2013 to March 2014 were control group,52 VLBW infants during March 2014 to March 2015 were test group.The control group infants were given aminophylline during the treatment:a loading dose of 5 mg/kg for 30 minutes intravenous infusion,a dose of 2 mg/kg after 12 hours,and once every 12 hours.The test group infants were gave caffeine citrate treatment during the treatment:a loading dose of 20 mg/kg for intravenous infusion,a dose of 5 mg/kg after 24 hours,and once per day.The situations of incidence of apnea,duration of oxygen therapy,reaching full milk-feeding time,intravascular hemorrhage (IVH),necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC),retinopathy of prematurity (ROP),bronchopulmonary dysplasia (RPD) and mortality rate of two groups were compared. Results 1)Compared with the control group,the apnea incidence of test group's premature infants was decreased,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05);2)Compared with the control group,the test group had lower incidences of IVH,BPD,ROP and assisted ventilation rate,the differences were statistically significant [9(18.7%) vs 3(5.7%),χ²=3.98,P<0.05] ;[19(39.6%) vs 10(19.2%),χ²=5.05,P<0.05];[10(20.8%) vs 2(3.8%),χ²=6.85,P<0.05];3)The incidences of NEC,fatality,oxygen therapy,time to reach full milk-feeding,etc had no statistically significant differences between two groups (P>0.05); Conclusion Efficacy of caffeine citrate in prevention and treatment of premature infant apnea and its improving the prognosis of premature infants in the near future are better than those of aminophylline,but the outcome remains need further follow-up.