preterm baby

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether fetal growth restriction (FGR) diagnosis, based on pathological prenatal fetal Doppler velocimetry, is associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) independently of being small for gestational age (SGA) per se at birth among very preterm infants. DESIGN: Prospective, observational study. FGR was defined as failing fetal growth in utero and fetal Doppler velocimetry abnormalities. SETTING: Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Roma, Italy...

IMPORTANCE: Postnatal dexamethasone is associated with reduction in bronchopulmonary dysplasia. There remains, however, concern that its short-term benefits are accompanied by long-term adverse effects e.g. poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine the effects of administration of postnatal dexamethasone on respiratory and neurodevelopmental outcome at two years of age after adjusting for neonatal and infant risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 412 infants born at 23-28 weeks of gestation, 29% had received postnatal dexamethasone...

BACKGROUND: The prognosis for late-onset sepsis depends largely on a timely diagnosis. We assess central-peripheral temperature difference monitoring as a marker for late-onset neonatal sepsis diagnosis. METHODS: We performed a prospective, observational study focusing on a cohort of 129 very low birth weight infants. Thermal gradient alteration was defined as a difference of > 2°C maintained during 4 hours. We then determined its association with the late-onset sepsis variable through logistic regression...

Breast milk feeding (BMF) is associated with lower neonatal morbidity in the very preterm infant (<32 weeks gestation) and breastfeeding is beneficial for maternal health. Previous studies show large variations in BMF after very preterm birth and recognize the need for targeted breastfeeding support in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU). In a European collaboration project about evidence-based practices after very preterm birth, we examined the association between maternal, obstetric, and infant clinical factors; neonatal and maternal care unit policies; and BMF at discharge from the NICU...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the finger-feeding technique when compared with the cup feeding method during the early stage of preterm infant feeding transition regarding milk loss, milk ingestion period, and complications. METHODS: Experimental, randomized, prospective study including 53 preterm infants with gestation age<37 weeks, clinically stable, and with a score of >28 points in the Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale. The preterm babies were randomized to be included in the control group, which underwent the feeding transition using a cup or in the experimental group, which used the finger-feeding technique...

OBJECTIVE: Factors influencing intraamniotic adiponectin levels and their functional significance remain incompletely elucidated. We prospectively measured adiponectin in amniotic fluid and identified its associations with maternal parameters, mediators in amniotic fluid and pregnancy outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Mid-trimester amniotic fluid from 571 women was tested for adiponectin, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and α-amylase by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA), after which clinical data were obtained...

A large amount of investigations informs about primary steps of mammalian kidney development such as anlage of the organ and initial nephron formation, while only few data exists about the late phase of human kidney development. In particular, little attention was up to date addressed to the decrease of morphogenic activity in the nephrogenic zone short before birth and the vanishing of all stem cell niches aligned beyond the organ capsule. There is evidence that molecular controlling of this normal but degenerative developmental process also plays a decisive role in the kidneys of preterm and growth restricted babies...

Introduction: The preterm birth is clearly associated with increased risk of developing congenital hearing impairment. Therefore, special attention must be paid to the postnatal control of auditory function in all preterm infants. The present work investigates if the latest scientific findings regarding prevalence, clinical diagnostics, therapy and risk factors of hearing impairment in premature infants are regularly implemented in daily practice. Methods: At the department of phoniatrics and pediatric audiology of the University Hospital of Magdeburg, the treatment data of 126 preterm children born between 2006 and 2011 were evaluated retrospectively...

INTRODUCTION: Spinal cord injuries in new born infants following a traumatic delivery or umbilical cord catheterisation due to thromboembolism are well known. Cases with atraumatic acute onset of neonatal paraplegia have also been described in preterm babies or babies born small for gestational age with a stormy postnatal course related to ischaemic aetiology. We describe a rare case of infarction of the spinal cord from a predominant haemorrhagic aetiology. CASE PRESENTATION: A term female baby, first child of unrelated parents, was born by normal vaginal delivery...

Preeclampsia is characterized by blood pressure greater than 140/90 mmHg in the second half of pregnancy. This disease is a major contributor to preterm and low birth weight babies. The early delivery of the baby, which becomes necessary for maintaining maternal well-being, makes preeclampsia the leading cause for preterm labor and infant mortality and morbidity. Currently, there is no cure for this pregnancy disorder. The current clinical management of PE is hydralazine with labetalol and magnesium sulfate to slow disease progression and prevent maternal seizure, and hopefully prolong the pregnancy...

Multinational data on assisted reproduction techniques (IVF and intractytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI], frozen embryo transfer, oocyte donation, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and fertility preservation) were collected from 159 institutions in 15 Latin American countries. A total of 41.34% of IVF-ICSI cycles were conducted in women aged 35-39 years and 23.35% in women aged 40 years and older. After removing freeze-all cases, delivery rate per oocyte retrieval was 25.05% for ICSI and 27.41% for IVF. Multiple births included 20...

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a proliferative retinal vascular disease affecting the retina of premature infants. The clinical spectrum of ROP varies from spontaneous regression to bilateral retinal detachment and total blindness. Between these two extremes lies the form of ROP, which is amenable to treatment with laser photocoagulation, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs or surgery. Increasing rates of preterm births coupled with better survival rates but lack of uniform quality of neonatal care and delays in diagnosis have led to increasing ROP blindness...

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of thyroid peroxidase autoantibody in euthyroid pregnant women and to evaluate the association between thyroid peroxidase autoantibody and pregnancy outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One thousand thirty consecutive pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic over a period of 1 year and were carrying a healthy singleton uncomplicated intrauterine pregnancy and consuming iodized salt were recruited for the study. Outcomes of the pregnancy was compared between TPO antibody positive euthyroid women (group 1) and TPO antibody negative euthyroid women (group 2)...

INTRODUCTION: Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a significant morbidity seen in very low birth weight infants. Genes related to inflammation may be risk factors for IVH. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined five polymorphisms for an association with IVH in 100 preterm infants born from singleton pregnancy, before 32 + 0 weeks of gestation, exposed to antenatal steroid therapy, and without congenital abnormalities. These polymorphisms include interleukin-1β 3953 C>T, interleukin-6 -174G>C and -596G>A, tumor necrosis factor -308 G>A, and 86 bp variable number tandem repeat polymorphism of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (Il -1RN 86 bp VNTR)...

OBJECTIVE: To examine levels of parenting stress in mothers of preterm and term infants when the children were 2 years old; to determine the trajectory of stress over three time periods and to examine the association of maternal and neonatal factors and developmental outcomes with parenting stress. DESIGN: It is a prospective longitudinal study to determine parenting stress in mothers of preterm and term infants with outcomes having been previously obtained at 4 and 12 months...

INTRODUCTION: Antenatal corticosteroids play an important role in preventing Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) but benefits related to time between corticosteroid administration and delivery need to be explored. AIM: To observe the effect of betamethasone administration in pregnant women at risk of preterm delivery and on foetal parameters, in terms of development of RDS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a prospective observational study on pregnant women at risk of preterm delivery who were administered a single dose 24 mg injection betamethasone...

OBJECTIVES: To describe the frequency of postnatal discussions about withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining therapy (WWLST), ensuing WWLST, and outcomes of infants surviving such discussions. We hypothesized that such survivors have poor outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective review included registry data from 18 centers of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. Infants born at 22-28 weeks of gestation who survived >12 hours during 2011-2013 were included...

Purpose and Study Objective: Whether the preterm mothers' mature milk retains the same cellular components as those in colostrum including stem-like cell, cell adhesion molecules, and immune cells. PARTICIPANTS: A total of five preterm mothers were recruited for the study having an average age of 30.2 years and gestational age of 29.8 weeks from the Pristine Women's Hospital, Kolhapur. Colostrum milk was collected within 2-5 days and matured milk was collected 20-30 days after delivery from the same mothers...

Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal and infant mortality and a substantial portion of neonatal morbidities. The perinatal mortality and morbidity statistics in developing countries are inadequate. In this study, we assessed prevalence and health outcomes of preterm deliveries in tertiary care university hospitals. A retrospective study of hospital records of premature babies born in all the five governmental tertiary care settings during the time interval of 2013-2015 in Shiraz was conducted. Result of this study showed that there was an overall 127...

Aberrations including genetic alterations in folate pathway are detrimental in multiple disease pathogenesis, including pregnancy. The present study is based on the screening of the associative role of TYMS 14946bp deletion(del) polymorphism and associated hyperhomocysteinemia in susceptibility to preterm delivery (PTD), which is strongly associated with neonatal mortality and morbidity. METHODS: A total of 209 PTD cases {extremely preterm (n=22), very preterm (n=43) and moderately preterm (n=144)} and 194 term delivery cases were evaluated for TYMS 14946bp deletion and its association with preterm delivery, pregnancy outcome, baby birth weight and homocysteine estimation...