Variability in Practice and Implementation of Oxygen Target Saturation Policies in United States' Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

Objective:  This study aimed to describe target oxygen saturation (SpO) ranges used for premature infants in United States' neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and to describe if these target SpO ranges have changed in recent years.

Study Design:  A 29-question survey focused on target SpO practices and policies was distributed via the NICU medical directors listservs for the American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and Pediatrix Medical Group between August and October of 2021. Results were collected via Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap).

Health Care Disparities in High-Risk Neonates.

Long-standing health disparities in maternal reproductive health, infant morbidity and mortality, and long-term developmental outcomes are rooted in a foundation of structural racism. Social determinants of health profoundly affect reproductive health outcomes of Black and Hispanic women disproportionately; they have higher rates of death during pregnancy and preterm birth. Their infants are also more likely to be cared for in poorer quality neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), receive poorer quality of NICU care, and are less likely to be referred to an appropriate high-risk NICU follow-up program.

Case report: Spindle cell neoplasm presenting as a spontaneous intestinal perforation in a term infant.

Spontaneous intestinal perforations in the neonatal population are mostly associated with low birth weight, prematurity, and necrotizing enterocolitis. Spontaneous intestinal perforation in the absence of these risk factors is extremely rare and should raise clinical concern for an underlying bowel pathology. Here we present a unique case of a normal-weight, full-term girl with spontaneous intestinal perforation due to a spindle cell neoplasm with a novel mutation and infantile fibrosarcoma-like morphology.

Texas Pulse Oximetry Project: A Multicenter Educational and Quality Improvement Project for Implementation of Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening Using Pulse Oximetry.

 Critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) is a leading cause of death in infants. Newborn screening (NBS) by pulse oximetry allows early identification of CCHD in asymptomatic newborns. To improve readiness of hospital neonatal birthing facilities for mandatory screening in Texas, an educational and quality improvement (QI) project was piloted to identify an implementation strategy for CCHD NBS in a range of birthing hospitals.

A Multicenter Initiative for Critical Congenital Heart Disease Newborn Screening in Texas Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

 The objective of this study was to implement a strategy for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) newborn screening in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).  A NICU-specific curriculum, screening algorithm, slide presentations, and templates of orders, policies, and procedures were developed into a toolkit for training NICU personnel. Screening was conducted on first and second screen pre- and postductal oxygen saturations (SpO) on newborns admitted or transferred to the NICU.