QT interval prolongation and risk of life-threatening arrhythmias during toxoplasmosis prophylaxis with spiramycin in neonates.

We recently reported two cases of QT interval prolongation and cardiac arrest in newborns receiving antibiotic therapy with spiramycin, a macrolide agent extensively used for toxoplasmosis prophylaxis. In this study we assessed the effects of this drug on ventricular repolarization and on the potential risk of lethal arrhythmias in eight newborn infants in whom toxoplasmosis prophylaxis after birth was necessary. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) and echocardiograms were recorded during spiramycin therapy (350,000 i.

[Urokinase in a premature infant: its use in a case of right atrial thrombosis secondary to catheterization of the umbilical vein].

Newborns with vascular catheters must be investigated by echocardiogram for intracardiac thrombosis. We report the use of urokinase to treat an asymptomatic right atrial thrombus in a 31 weeks' gestation newborn; the thrombosis occurred after placement of a catheter in the umbilical vein. We obtained a safe and successful thrombolysis using urokinase 4000 U/kg/h in continuous infusion.

[Longitudinal study of a group of 56 infants with a birth weight of less than 1500 gms: mortality and neurological sequelae in relation to progress in intensive care technics].

56 very low-birth-weight (less than or equal to 1500 gm) infants were admitted in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between january 1978 and december 1981. Mortality of these infants in the first year of life decreased from 50% in 1978 to 32% in 1981. Our study confirms that mortality is significantly higher in transported infants.