The effects of betamethasone on the amplitude integrated EEG of infants born at 34- or 35-weeks gestation.

Objective: Assess if maternal betamethasone administration at 34-35 weeks accelerated neonatal amplitude integrated EEG (aEEG) maturation.

Study Design: Nested, observational cohort in 7 centers participating in the Antenatal Late Preterm Steroid randomized trial. Up to 2 aEEGs were obtained in neonates born from 34-35 weeks gestation before 72 h (aEEG 1) and at 5-7 days (aEEG 2) if hospitalized.

Limitations of Conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a Predictor of Death or Disability Following Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy in the Late Hypothermia Trial.

Objective: To investigate if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an accurate predictor for death or moderate-severe disability at 18-22 months of age among infants with neonatal encephalopathy in a trial of cooling initiated at 6-24 hours.

Study Design: Subgroup analysis of infants ≥36 weeks of gestation with moderate-severe neonatal encephalopathy randomized at 6-24 postnatal hours to hypothermia or usual care in a multicenter trial of late hypothermia. MRI scans were performed per each center's practice and interpreted by 2 central readers using the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development injury score (6 levels, normal to hemispheric devastation).

Determinants of Neonatal Readmission in Healthy Term Infants: Results from a Nested Case-Control Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and identify the factors associated with neonatal readmission among healthy term infants.

Study Design: A nested case-control study with matching was conducted at a large level III perinatal hospital with approximately 8,700 deliveries each year. Each case infant ( = 130) was matched to two control infants ( = 260) on the case infant's date of birth (±7 days) and the mother's maternal age (<20 years, 20-29, 30-39, and >39 years).

Timing of postnatal steroids for bronchopulmonary dysplasia: association with pulmonary and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Objective: To determine the associations between age at first postnatal corticosteroids (PNS) exposure and risk for severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI).

Study Design: Cohort study of 951 infants born <27 weeks gestational age at NICHD Neonatal Research Network sites who received PNS between 8 days of life (DOL) and 36 weeks' postmenstrual age was used to produce adjusted odds ratios (aOR).

Results: Compared with infants in the reference group (22-28 DOL-lowest rate), aOR for severe BPD was similar for children given PNS between DOL 8 and 49 but higher among infants treated at DOL 50-63 (aOR 1.

Effect of Therapeutic Hypothermia Initiated After 6 Hours of Age on Death or Disability Among Newborns With Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Hypothermia initiated at less than 6 hours after birth reduces death or disability for infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy at 36 weeks' or later gestation. To our knowledge, hypothermia trials have not been performed in infants presenting after 6 hours.

Objective: To estimate the probability that hypothermia initiated at 6 to 24 hours after birth reduces the risk of death or disability at 18 months among infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

Identification of Extremely Premature Infants at Low Risk for Early-Onset Sepsis.

Background: Premature infants are at high risk of early-onset sepsis (EOS) relative to term infants, and most are administered empirical antibiotics after birth. We aimed to determine if factors evident at birth could be used to identify premature infants at lower risk of EOS.

Methods: Study infants were born at 22 to 28 weeks' gestation in Neonatal Research Network centers from 2006 to 2014.

Mortality and morbidity of VLBW infants with trisomy 13 or trisomy 18.

Objective: Little is known about how very low birth weight (VLBW) affects survival and morbidities among infants with trisomy 13 (T13) or trisomy 18 (T18). We examined the care plans for VLBW infants with T13 or T18 and compared their risks of mortality and neonatal morbidities with VLBW infants with trisomy 21 and VLBW infants without birth defects.

Methods: Infants with birth weight 401 to 1500 g born or cared for at a participating center of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network during the period 1994-2009 were studied.

Enrollment of extremely low birth weight infants in a clinical research study may not be representative.

Background And Objective: The Surfactant Positive Airway Pressure and Pulse Oximetry Randomized Trial (SUPPORT) antenatal consent study demonstrated that mothers of infants enrolled in the SUPPORT trial had significantly different demographics and exposure to antenatal steroids compared with mothers of eligible, but not enrolled infants. The objective of this analysis was to compare the outcomes of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, severe retinopathy of prematurity, severe intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia (IVH/PVL), death, and death/severe IVH/PVL for infants enrolled in SUPPORT in comparison with eligible, but not enrolled infants.

Methods: Perinatal characteristics and neonatal outcomes were compared for enrolled and eligible but not enrolled infants in bivariate analyses.

Antenatal consent in the SUPPORT trial: challenges, costs, and representative enrollment.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to quantify the time and effort involved in obtaining prenatal consent for the Neonatal Research Network Surfactant Positive Airway Pressure and Pulse Oximetry Randomized Trial (SUPPORT) and to determine whether the enrolled infants were representative of the eligible population.

Methods: Eligible subjects were likely to deliver in the SUPPORT gestational age window (24-27(6/7)] weeks). Data included who approached the subjects for consent, how often they approached, the duration of each contact, whether consent was obtained, and whether subjects were enrolled in the trial.

Immediate and delayed cord clamping in infants born between 24 and 32 weeks: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This pilot study's aim was to establish feasibility of a protocol for delayed cord clamping (DCC) versus immediate cord clamping (ICC) at preterm birth and to examine its effects on initial blood pressure and other outcomes.

Study Design: A randomized controlled trial recruited 32 infants between 24 and 32 weeks. Immediately before delivery, mothers were randomized to ICC (cord clamped at 5 to 10 seconds) or DCC (30- to 45-second delay in cord clamping) groups.