Objective: To analyze the sclerotherapy of giant (≥8 mm) lymphatic malformations in neonates and discuss effective treatment.
Methods: This was a single-center retrospective study. Twelve patients received bleomycin (BLM) (six patients) or BLM combined with polidocanol (POL) (eight patients). The safety and effects of BLM and BLM + POL were analyzed using a t-test for categorical data and likelihood ratios or Fisher's exact test for continuous data. Factors resulting in an increased number of treatment sessions were studied.
Results: Treatment began 2-5 days after birth. The patients in the BLM group underwent more treatment sessions. Gestational age, lesion size and type, total response, and complications showed no significant differences between groups. Larger and mixed-ype lesions required more treatment sessions.
Conclusions: Both BLM group and BLM + POL group appear relatively safe and effective in neonates with giant lymphatic malformations. The combination of the two agents reduced the number of procedures and general anesthesia required.
Objective: Not all individuals self-identify with race categories on birth certificates, selecting "Other" and writing in identities. Our hypothesis was that curating write-in responses in the "Other" race category would contribute to understanding preterm birth inequities.
Methods: We analyzed Pennsylvania birth certificates (2006-2014). Two independent coders reviewed each write-in response among those who selected "Other" race. We compared preterm birth rates across subpopulations within "Other" race category using a Monte Carlo simulated Chi-square test.
Results: Among 1,196,125 singleton births, 72,891 (6.1%) exclusively selected "Other" race; Hispanic more often than non-Hispanic individuals (54.5% vs 0.7%), p < 0.0001). Only 545 (0.8%) of Hispanic individuals wrote in responses aligned with preestablished race categories compared to 2,601 (33.2%) of non-Hispanic individuals. Preterm birth rates varied significantly across identities within the "Other" group (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Utilizing combinations of self-identified race, ethnicity, and continental origin may facilitate public health efforts focused on birth outcome equity.
"Necrotizing enterocolitis" ("NEC") is a heterogeneous group of intestinal injuries experienced primarily in preterm infants. Risk factors include among others preterm gut microbiome alterations. Maternal milk (MM), or otherwise parent milk, is protective for the developing intestine due to its constituents, which include bioactive antimicrobials, immunomodulatory molecules, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), and microorganisms. However, some preterm infants receiving exclusively mother's own milk (MOM) develop intestinal injuries. Studies showed predisposition to increased risk for "NEC", when a decreased MM HMO, disialyllacto-N-tetraose, is combined with an altered infant's gut microbiome. The intestine may also become more prone to injury with a greater amount of bacteria not bound to IgA. Variations in MM composition may alter the offspring gut microbiome, depriving protection. The different "NEC" entities should be considered to play a role as to why, in many studies, MOM does not provide absolute protection against preterm intestinal injury.
Starr MC, Griffin R, Gist KM, Segar JL, Raina R, et al. Association of Fluid Balance with Short- and Long-term Respiratory Outcomes in Extremely Premature Neonates: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open 2022 [1].
Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.
To elucidate the outcomes of periviable infants receiving active care (AC) and explore perinatal factors associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes.
This is a single-center retrospective study on infants born at 22–25 weeks of gestation, all of whom received AC. A developmental quotient (DQ) ≥ 85 at corrected 18 months was judged as normal.
Fifty-seven infants were included in the study. The survival rates at discharge were 83%, 86%, 93%, and 93% at 22, 23, 24, and 25 gestational weeks, respectively. The overall percentage of normal DQ was 26/47 (55%). Acidemia in the arterial blood gas measured within 6 h after birth was identified as a factor significantly associated with subnormal DQ.
Not only high survival rates, but also favorable neurodevelopmental outcomes may be achieved by AC in periviable infants. Moreover, impaired neurodevelopmental outcomes may be associated with early postnatal acidemia following initial resuscitation.