Methods: Ventilated infants less than 34 weeks gestational age at birth were recruited within the first 24 hours of life and randomly allocated to receive either pressure-limited or VTV. Adjustments to ventilator settings were made according to the trial protocol. Infants were deemed to have met failure criteria if they required HFOV, required peak pressures of more than 26 cm of water or developed pulmonary haemorrhage. Analysis will be by intention-to-treat.