Flow-resistive loading and diaphragmatic muscle function in term and preterm infants.

Purpose: We aimed to assess diaphragmatic function in term and preterm infants with and without history of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), before and after the application of inspiratory flow resistive loading.

Methods: Forty infants of a median (range) gestational age of 34 (25-40) weeks were studied. BPD was defined as supplemental oxygen requirement for >28 days of life.

Diaphragmatic muscle function in term and preterm infants.

We aimed to assess the determinants of diaphragmatic function in term and preterm infants. 149 infants (56 term; 93 preterm, of whom 14 were diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia-BPD) were studied before discharge. Diaphragmatic function was assessed by measurement of the maximum transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdimax)-a measure of diaphragmatic strength, and the pressure-time index of the diaphragm (PTIdi)-a measure of the load-to-capacity ratio of the diaphragm.

Early Diagnosis of Late-Onset Neonatal Sepsis Using a Sepsis Prediction Score.

Sepsis represents a common cause of morbidity in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Our objective was to assess the value of clinical and laboratory parameters in predicting septicemia (positive blood culture) in NICU infants. In the first part of the present study (derivation cohort) we retrospectively reviewed the clinical files of 120 neonates with symptoms of suspected sepsis and identified clinical and laboratory parameters associated with proven sepsis on the day the blood culture was taken, as well as 24 h and 48 h earlier.

Effect of prone and supine positioning on the diaphragmatic work of breathing in convalescent preterm infants.

Objectives: To compare the work of breathing in the prone and supine positions in convalescent prematurely born infants.

Working Hypothesis: The work of breathing would be lower in the prone compared to the supine position.

Study Design: Prospective observational cohort study.

Extensively-drug resistant bacteremia in neonates: effective treatment with the combination of colistin and ampicillin/sulbactam.

has evolved as a major pathogen of outbreaks in the healthcare setting with increased morbidity and mortality. In neonates, treatment can be quite challenging due to the resistance profile of as well as limited data on pharmakokinetics and pharmakodynamics of antibiotics in this age group. We present an outbreak of eight cases of extensively-drug resistant (XDR) bacteremias successfully managed with the combination of colistin with high dose ampicillin/sulbactam.

Nutrition of neonates with congenital heart disease: existing evidence, conflicts and concerns.

Congenital heart disease is one of the most of the groups of congenital anomalies with an incidence of about 1 per 100 live births. Almost one-third of these infants require some type of intervention, usually in the first year of life and increasingly often in the neonatal period. Innovative reparative and palliative surgical procedures and advanced medical support in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit have significantly reduced the mortality related to congenital heart disease.

Hymenoptera sting-induced Kounis syndrome: effects of aspirin and beta-blocker administration.

Kounis syndrome is the concurrence of acute coronary syndromes with conditions associated with activation of interacting inflammatory cells including allergic or hypersensitivity and anaphylactic or anaphylactoid insults. It is caused via inflammatory mediators released during inflammatory cell activation. A variety of conditions, drugs, and environmental exposures can induce Kounis syndrome.