Lung UltrasouNd Guided surfactant therapy in preterm infants: an international multicenter randomized control trial (LUNG study).

Background: The management of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature newborns is based on different types of non-invasive respiratory support and on surfactant replacement therapy (SRT) to avoid mechanical ventilation as it may eventually result in lung damage. European guidelines currently recommend SRT only when the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO) exceeds 0.30.

Study protocol: treatment with caffeine of the very preterm infant in the delivery room: a feasibility study.

Introduction: Early treatment with caffeine in the delivery room has been proposed to decrease the need for mechanical ventilation (MV) by limiting episodes of apnoea and improving respiratory mechanics in preterm infants. Thus, the purpose of this feasibility study is to verify the hypothesis that intravenous or enteral administration of caffeine can be performed in the preterm infant in the delivery room.

Methods And Analysis: In this multicentre prospective study, infants with 25-29 weeks of gestational age will be enrolled and randomised to receive 20 mg/kg of caffeine citrate intravenously, via the umbilical vein, or enterally, through an orogastric tube, within 10 min of birth.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and neonates: a review of evidence and unresolved questions.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in the neonatal period poses previously unmet challenges to obstetricians and neonatologists, but several key questions are yet to be answered. Few cases of presumed in utero vertical transmission of the virus from infected mothers to fetuses have been reported, but stronger evidence is needed, from larger datasets with multiple biospecimens rigorously analyzed. Whether acquired before or after birth, SARS-CoV-2 infection in neonates can be symptomatic, but our comprehension of neonatal immune response and the subsequent clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in early life are incomplete.

Changes in respiratory mechanics at birth in preterm infants: A pilot study.

Objective: We aimed to measure lung mechanics at birth by the forced oscillation technique (FOT) for assessment of the initial degree of lung aeration and the short-term aeration changes after applying different respiratory support strategies.

Methods: Eighteen preterm infants (gestational age = 29-36 week) were randomized to receive either continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) at 5 cmH O only or combined with a sustained inflation (SI; 15 seconds at 25 cmH O after 5 seconds of CPAP) at birth. We assessed the respiratory system reactance at 5 Hz (X increases with lung volume recruitment at a given distending pressure) at 2, 40, and 150 seconds after initiation of CPAP.

Nasal high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and CO removal: A randomized controlled crossover trial.

Objective: To compare short-term application of nasal high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (nHFOV) with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP).

Working Hypothesis: nHFOV improves CO removal with respect to nCPAP in preterm infants needing noninvasive respiratory support and persistent oxygen supply after the first 72 h of life.

Study Design: Multicenter non-blinded prospective randomized crossover study.

New Insights on Early Patterns of Respiratory Disease among Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns.

Background: The analysis of early patterns of lung disease among preterm infants may help to identify predictors of pulmonary deterioration.

Objectives: To analyze FIO2 requirement in the first 14 days of life among preterm infants and to find predictors of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Methods: Retrospective cohort study.

Oxygen administration at birth in preterm infants: a retrospective analysis.

Objective: The aim of the study was to retrospectively investigate the association between initial oxygen concentration in delivery room and short-term outcomes in preterm infants.

Methods: Data from infants needing neonatal resuscitation, born at our department between January 2008 and December 2011, were analyzed. Patients were divided into three groups based on gestational age: between 32 and 36 weeks, between 31 and 28 weeks, and below 28 weeks.

Calcium signaling-related proteins are associated with broncho-pulmonary dysplasia progression.

Unlabelled: Broncho-pulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic pulmonary disorder that follows premature birth. It is preceded by respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), characterized by acute respiratory failure due to deficiency of surfactant at birth. Clinical characteristics of infants affected by BPD have widely changed in the last decades: they are extraordinarly immature, with impaired alveolar and vascular lung development.

Nasal continuous positive airway pressure with heliox in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome.

Objective: To assess the therapeutic effects of breathing a low-density helium and oxygen mixture (heliox, 80% helium and 20% oxygen) in premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP).

Methods: Infants born between 28 and 32 weeks of gestational age with radiologic findings and clinical symptoms of RDS and requiring respiratory support with NCPAP within the first hour of life were included. These infants were randomly assigned to receive either standard medical air (control group) or a 4:1 helium and oxygen mixture (heliox group) during the first 12 hours of enrollment, followed by medical air until NCPAP was no longer needed.

Uptake of KRAS mutation testing in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

The mutation status of the KRAS gene in the tumors of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is a predictive biomarker for the efficacy of epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody therapy. The establishment of KRAS mutation testing in this setting represents a significant change to standard diagnostic procedures and a major advance in the personalization of cancer care. Against a changing regulatory background, three cross-sectional surveys of physicians in 14 countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia were conducted in 2008, 2009, and 2010 to investigate the uptake and outcome of KRAS testing for patients with mCRC.

[Respiratory failure in "late preterm" infants: a retrospective cohort study].

Objective: To evaluate the incidence and characteristics of the respiratory failure in late preterm infants.

Study Design: Retrospective data analysis in years 2006-2007 in late preterm infants (GA 34(+0)-36(+6) weeks) with respiratory failure, admitted at a tertiary level NICU.

Result: Data from 1011 late preterm infants, which accounted for 7% of all deliveries and 65% of preterm births were analyzed; 29% (292/1011) required intensive care and 13% (136/1011) presented respiratory failure (16% of all ventilated infants in the period).