Increasing incidence of respiratory distress in neonates.

Aim: To document the change in the incidence of respiratory distress (RD), related interventions and mortality in neonates admitted to primary, secondary and tertiary neonatal units within a geographically defined population over a period of 30 years.

Methods: RD was defined as a clinical picture irrespective of the etiology. Information was collected retrospectively for 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004 from all neonatal units in Switzerland.

Hyperoxemia in newborn infants: detection by pulse oximetry.

Pulse oximetry has been proposed as a noninvasive continuous method for transcutaneous monitoring of arterial oxygen saturation of hemoglobin (tcSO2) in the newborn infant. The reliability of this technique in detecting hyperoxemia is controversial, because small changes in saturation greater than 90% are associated with relatively large changes in arterial oxygen tension (PaO2). The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of pulse oximetry using an alarm limit of 95% tcSO2 in detecting hyperoxemia (defined as PaO2 greater than 90 mm Hg) and to examine the effect of varying the alarm limit on reliability.

Vitamin concentrations in very low birth weight infants given vitamins intravenously in a lipid emulsion: measurement of vitamins A, D, and E and riboflavin.

Because total parenteral nutrition with vitamins added to the glucose-amino acid mixture is often associated with a reduction in blood levels of vitamin A (retinol) during the routine treatment of many very low birth weight (VLBW) infants (less than 1500 gm), and because retinol losses in the plastic delivery system can be prevented by adding the vitamins to an intravenous lipid emulsion, seven VLBW infants with a mean birth weight of 900 gm (range 450 to 1360 gm) were given 40% of a unit dose vial, per kilogram of body weight, of a multivitamin preparation (M.V.I.

[Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome in Switzerland. Data for 1984 and comparison with 1974].

In a retrospective study (questionnaire) covering all the neonatal special care units of Switzerland, information was obtained on, the problem cases in 84% of all babies born in 1984. 8.3% were hospitalized.

[Meconium peritonitis: description of 3 cases with abnormal prenatal ultrasound findings].

We describe three children with surgically confirmed meconium peritonitis. All had abnormal prenatal ultrasonographic examinations. The first child showed multiple cysts, the second had hydrops fetalis, and the third had dilated bowel loops.

Is pulse oximetry reliable in detecting hyperoxemia in the neonate?

We tested the hypothesis that hyperoxemia defined as arterial PO2 above 12 kPa can be detected by pulse oximetry using 95% oxygen saturation as the upper limit. Thirty artificially ventilated neonates with an indwelling arterial catheter were studied registrating transcutaneous oxygen saturation (Ohmeda Biox 3700 Pulse Oximeter) and transcutaneous PO2 continuously during a 4-hour period and measuring arterial oxygen saturation and PO2 intermittently. 46 episodes of arterial hyperoxemia were observed.

[Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome in Switzerland--a comparison of a survey and official statistics].

A survey in all neonatal intensive care units in Switzerland showed that most children with a birth weight below 2000 g (identified in the birth statistics) are hospitalised in those units. Also comparison with the official neonatal mortality statistics shows that most neonatal deaths occur in these units. High agreement was found between diagnosis in hospitalised children and those recorded on death certificates.