Developmental motor problems and health-related quality of life in 5-year-old children born extremely preterm: A European cohort study.

Aim: To measure the association between cerebral palsy (CP) and non-CP-related movement difficulties and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among 5-year-old children born extremely preterm (<28 weeks gestational age).

Method: We included 5-year-old children from a multi-country, population-based cohort of children born extremely preterm in 2011 to 2012 in 11 European countries (n = 1021). Children without CP were classified using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition as having significant movement difficulties (≤5th centile of standardized norms) or being at risk of movement difficulties (6th-15th centile).

Movement Difficulties at Age Five Among Extremely Preterm Infants.

Background And Objectives: Children born extremely preterm (EPT), <28 weeks' gestational age, face higher risks of movement difficulties than their term-born peers. Studies report varying prevalence estimates and prognostic factors identifying children who could benefit from early intervention are inconsistent. This study investigated the prevalence of movement difficulties in children born EPT and associated risk factors.

Increase in treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in the Netherlands from 2010 to 2017.

Purpose: Compare patients treated for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in two consecutive periods.

Methods: Retrospective inventory of anonymized neonatal and ophthalmological data of all patients treated for ROP from 2010 to 2017 in the Netherlands, subdivided in period (P)1: 1-1-2010 to 31-3-2013 and P2: 1-4-2013 to 31-12-2016. Treatment characteristics, adherence to early treatment for ROP (ETROP) criteria, outcome of treatment and changes in neonatal parameters and policy of care were compared.

Congenital diaphragmatic eventration and hernia sac compared to CDH with true defects: a retrospective cohort study.

Congenital diaphragmatic eventration (CDE) and congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) with or without hernia sac are three different types of congenital diaphragmatic malformations, which this study evaluates. All surgically treated patients with CDE or Bochdalek type CDH between 2000 and 2016 were included in this retrospective analysis. Demographics, CDH-characteristics, treatment, and clinical outcome were evaluated.

Effect of Hydrocortisone Therapy Initiated 7 to 14 Days After Birth on Mortality or Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Among Very Preterm Infants Receiving Mechanical Ventilation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Dexamethasone initiated after the first week of life reduces the rate of death or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) but may cause long-term adverse effects in very preterm infants. Hydrocortisone is increasingly used as an alternative, but evidence supporting its efficacy and safety is lacking.

Objective: To assess the effect of hydrocortisone initiated between 7 and 14 days after birth on death or BPD in very preterm infants.

Neonatal Hemodynamics: From Developmental Physiology to Comprehensive Monitoring.

Maintenance of neonatal circulatory homeostasis is a real challenge, due to the complex physiology during postnatal transition and the inherent immaturity of the cardiovascular system and other relevant organs. It is known that abnormal cardiovascular function during the neonatal period is associated with increased risk of severe morbidity and mortality. Understanding the functional and structural characteristics of the neonatal circulation is, therefore, essential, as therapeutic hemodynamic interventions should be based on the assumed underlying (patho)physiology.

Early-onset preeclampsia is associated with perinatal mortality and severe neonatal morbidity.

Objective: To evaluate neonatal outcomes of pregnancies complicated by early-onset preeclampsia (PE) and compare these outcomes to those of gestational age matched neonates born to mothers whose pregnancy was not complicated by early-onset PE.

Methods: We analyzed the outcome in 97 neonates born to mothers with early-onset PE (24-32 weeks amenorrhea at diagnosis) and compared it to that of 680 gestational age-matched neonates born between 25-36 weeks due to other etiologies and admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of a tertiary referral hospital in the Netherlands. We used Chi-square test, Wilcoxon test, and logistic regression analyses.

Neuropsychological Follow-up After Neonatal ECMO.

Objective: To assess the longitudinal development of intelligence and its relation to school performance in a nationwide cohort of neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) survivors and evaluate predictors of outcome at 8 years of age.

Methods: Repeated measurements assessed intelligence of neonatal ECMO survivors at 2, 5, and 8 years (n = 178) with the use of validated, standardized instruments. Selective attention (n = 148) and type of education were evaluated in the 8-year-olds.

Changes in Biochemical Parameters of the Calcium-Phosphorus Homeostasis in Relation to Nutritional Intake in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants.

Preterm infants are at significant risk to develop reduced bone mineralization based on inadequate supply of calcium and phosphorus (Ca-P). Biochemical parameters can be used to evaluate the nutritional intake. The direct effect of nutritional intake on changes in biochemical parameters has not been studied.

Risk and relevance of open lung biopsy in pediatric ECMO patients: the Dutch experience.

Background: Open lung biopsy can help differentiate between reversible and irreversible lung disease and may guide therapy. To assess the risk-benefit ratio of this procedure in pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) patients, we reviewed data of all patients who underwent an open lung biopsy during ECMO in one of the two pediatric ECMO centers in a nationwide study in the Netherlands.

Results: In nineteen neonatal and six pediatric patients (0-15.

The early postnatal nutritional intake of preterm infants affected neurodevelopmental outcomes differently in boys and girls at 24 months.

Aim: This study assessed whether increased amino acid and energy intake in preterm infants during the first week of life was associated with improved neurodevelopment at the corrected age (CA) of 24 months.

Methods: We evaluated preterm infants from two consecutive cohorts in 2004 (Cohort 1) and 2005 (Cohort 2) with different nutritional intakes in the Netherlands. Nutritional intake and growth were recorded until week 5 and after discharge.

Outcome of isolated gastroschisis; an international study, systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To determine outcome of children born with isolated gastroschisis (no extra-gastrointestinal congenital abnormalities).

Study Design: International cohort study and meta-analysis.

Primary Outcome: time to full enteral feeding (TFEF); secondary outcomes: Duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay (LOS), mortality and differences in outcome between simple and complex gastroschisis (complex; born with bowel atresia, volvulus, perforation or necrosis).

Detection and quantification of left-to-right shunting using transpulmonary ultrasound dilution (TPUD): a validation study in neonatal lambs.

Objectives: We investigated the accuracy of left-to-right shunt detection using transpulmonary ultrasound dilution (TPUD) and compared the agreement between pulmonary over systemic blood flow (Qp/Qs) ratio measured by TPUD [Qp/Qs(tpud)] and ultrasonic flow probes [Qp/Qs(ufp)].

Methods: Seven newborn lambs under general anesthesia were connected to the TPUD monitor (COstatus™) after insertion of arterial and central venous catheters. A Gore-Tex® shunt, inserted between the descending aorta and left pulmonary artery, was intermittently opened and closed while cardiac output was varied by blood withdrawals.

Nationwide Evaluation of Congenital Hypothyroidism Screening during Neonatal Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

Background: Thyroid hormone concentrations may deviate from normal values during critical illness. This condition is known as nonthyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS), and it can influence the results of screening for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) during neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Objectives: To determine the incidence of aberrant CH screening results in ECMO-treated neonates, to identify possible determinants, and to follow up patients with abnormal thyroid hormone concentrations.

AGORA, a data- and biobank for birth defects and childhood cancer.

Background: Research regarding the etiology of birth defects and childhood cancer is essential to develop preventive measures, but often requires large study populations. Therefore, we established the AGORA data- and biobank in the Netherlands. In this study, we describe its rationale, design, and ongoing data collection.

Growing Up After Critical Illness: Verbal, Visual-Spatial, and Working Memory Problems in Neonatal Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Survivors.

Objectives: To assess neuropsychologic outcome in 17- and 18-year-old neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation survivors.

Design: A prospective longitudinal follow-up study.

Setting: Follow-up program at the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Perceived Motor Competence Differs From Actual Performance in 8-Year-Old Neonatal ECMO Survivors.

Objective: To assess perceived motor competence, social competence, self-worth, health-related quality of life, and actual motor performancein 8-year-old survivors of neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Methods: In a prospective nationwide study, 135 children completed the extended version of the "athletic competence" domain of the Self Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) called the m-CBSK (Motor supplement of the Competentie BelevingsSchaal voor Kinderen) to assess perceived motor competence, the SPPC, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), andwere tested with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children. SD scores (SDS) were used to compare with the norm.

Practices in antenatal counseling for extremely premature infants amongst European trainees.

Unlabelled: There is no international consensus on content and process regarding antenatal counseling in extreme prematurity. The need for adequate training is increasingly recognized. This descriptive study evaluates current practice in antenatal counseling amongst European trainees using an online survey.

Tubular Injury Biomarkers to Detect Gentamicin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Objective: We evaluated whether urinary excretion of tubular injury markers could be useful for early detection of gentamicin (GM)-induced renal damage in neonates.

Study Design: We conducted a prospective, observational trial in neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (26 GM treated, 20 control). Kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), and π- and α-glutathione-S-transferase (GSTP1-1 and GSTA1-1) were measured every 2 hours during admission and compared with serum creatinine (sCr) and urine output.

The Effect of Decreasing Flow Rate on Cerebral Hemodynamics During Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Piglets.

To explore the influence of decreasing flow rate on cerebral hemodynamics during veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (va-ECMO), six normoxemic and six hypoxemic piglets were put on va-ECMO. The ECMO flow rate was decreased from the maximal achievable level to 50 mL min1 with steps of 50 mL min1 every 2 minutes. Changes in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), left common carotid artery blood flow (Qcar), and other physiologic variables were continuously measured.

Hemodynamic volumetry using transpulmonary ultrasound dilution (TPUD) technology in a neonatal animal model.

To analyze changes in cardiac output and hemodynamic volumes using transpulmonary ultrasound dilution (TPUD) in a neonatal animal model under different hemodynamic conditions. 7 lambs (3.5-8.

Motor performance after neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a longitudinal evaluation.

Objective: To assess longitudinally children's motor performance 5 to 12 years after neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and to evaluate associations between clinical characteristics and motor performance.

Methods: Two hundred fifty-four neonatal ECMO survivors in the Netherlands were tested with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children at 5, 8, and/or 12 years. Percentile scores were transformed to z scores for longitudinal evaluation (norm population mean = 0 and SD = 1).

Long-term outcome of children treated with neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: increasing problems with increasing age.

As more and more critically ill neonates survive, it becomes important to evaluate long-term morbidity. This review aims to provide an up-to-date overview of medical and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children who as neonates received treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Most patients-except those with congenital diaphragmatic hernia-have normal lung function and normal growth at older age.

ECMO in neonates: neuroimaging findings and outcome.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a rescue therapy for newborns with severe but reversible respiratory failure. Although ECMO has significantly improved survival, it is associated with substantial complications, of which intracranial injuries are the most important. These injuries consist of hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic, ischemic lesions.

Early postnatal calcium and phosphorus metabolism in preterm infants.

Objectives: Bone mineralisation in preterm infants is related to the supply of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P). We increased the amount of minerals in parenteral nutrition (PN) for preterm infants and evaluated postnatal Ca and P metabolism in relation to mineral and vitamin D (vitD) intake.

Methods: Preterm infants, included on their first day of life, received standard PN, providing a maximum Ca/P intake of 3/1.