Erythropoietin concentrations and neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm infants.

Objective: Erythropoietin therapy is effective in decreasing transfusions to varying degrees in preterm infants. Recent animal studies using erythropoietin doses to achieve serum concentrations > 1000 mU/mL report neuroprotective effects. We evaluated the relationship between erythropoietin concentrations and neurodevelopmental outcome in extremely low birth weight infants.

Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of albuterol and epinephrine at equipotent beta-2 agonist doses in acute bronchiolitis.

Our objective was to determine if nebulized racemic epinephrine is more efficacious than nebulized albuterol or saline placebo in the treatment of bronchiolitis in the outpatient setting when dosing is equivalent in terms of beta-2 agonist potency. Sixty-five patients between ages 6 weeks and 24 months with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis, defined as first-time wheezing, upper respiratory symptoms and/or fever, and a Respiratory Distress Assessment Instrument score of at least 4, were randomized to receive 5 mg nebulized albuterol, 5 mg nebulized racemic epinephrine, or an equivalent volume of placebo at 0, 30, and 60 min. The primary outcome measure was need for hospital admission or home oxygen.

Comparison of skin sites for estimating serum total bilirubin in in-patients and out-patients: chest is superior to brow.

Objective: [corrected] To compare transcutaneous bilirubin readings from the chest and forehead of inpatient and outpatient infants to investigate whether one site is more accurate for estimating serum bilirubin concentration.

Methods: In all, 31 infants were followed with serum and transcutaneous bilirubins using BiliChek trade mark at two skin sites.

Results: For inpatients average chest bilirubin was 0.