Olfactory testing in infants with perinatal asphyxia: enhancing encephalopathy risk stratification for future health outcomes.

Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality, often resulting in long-term neurodevelopmental challenges. Despite advancements in perinatal care, predicting long-term outcomes remains difficult. Early diagnosis is essential for timely interventions to reduce brain injury, with tools such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging, brain ultrasound, and emerging biomarkers playing a possible key role.

First intrapartum sonographic diagnosis of fetal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (FHIE).

Novel Insights In presence of cardiotocographic features suspected for hypoxic insult, intrapartum ultrasound in the hands of experienced operators can demonstrate cerebral edema as an indirect sign of fetal hypoxia affecting the fetal CNS and exclude non-hypoxic conditions potentially leading to abnormalities of the fetal heart rate. Introduction Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is a syndrome involving the fetal central nervous system as the result of a perinatal hypoxic-ischemic injury. To date, transfontanellar ultrasound represents the first line exam in neonates with clinical suspicion of HIE as it allows to show features indicating acute hypoxic injury and exclude potential non-hypoxic determinants of HIE, however there is no report concerning the sonographic assessment of the brain during labor.

Practical Way to Use Supraglottic Airway Device.

We read a review of case reports published on Current Pediatric Reviews 2024 about the use of I-gel® in neonatal complicated intubation, and we decided to write a commentary on the benefits and limitations of using supraglottic airways in neonatal age, with a specific focus on Igel [1]. The use of supraglottic airway devices in neonatal ages is limited to particular conditions, but further research is showing the utility of these devices as the first choice in neonatal resuscitation or airway stabilization. Our commentary highlights the broader practical applications of I-gel and reinforces its role as a valuable tool in neonatal resuscitation.

Predictive Role of Reticulocyte Fluorescence for Late Red Blood Cell Transfusion in Very Low Birth Weight Infants.

Background: Nearly 58% of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants receive at least one red blood cell transfusion, which is not without risk. Reticulocyte fluorescence (RF) indicates the degree of cell maturation. The greater the fluorescence, the greater the immaturity of the reticulocytes.

Hypoxic ischemic brain injury: animal models reveal new mechanisms of melatonin-mediated neuroprotection.

Oxidative stress (OS) and inflammation play a key role in the development of hypoxic-ischemic (H-I) induced brain damage. Following H-I, rapid neuronal death occurs during the acute phase of inflammation, and activation of the oxidant-antioxidant system contributes to the brain damage by activated microglia. So far, in an animal model of perinatal H-I, it was showed that neuroprostanes are present in all brain damaged areas, including the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum.