Purpose: Pregnant women are at risk of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, potentially leading to obstetric and neonatal complications. Placental transfer of antibodies directed to SARS-CoV-2 may be protective against neonatal COVID-19, but this remains to be studied. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a population of unvaccinated pregnant women and to determine the placental transfer of these antibodies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Immediate skin-to-skin contact (SSC) is already standard care for healthy term newborns, but its use for term or preterm newborns requiring admission to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with or without respiratory support is challenging. This study aimed to assess the safety and feasibility of SSC during the transfer of newborn infants, using a new purpose-built mobile shuttle care-station, called "Tandem".
Material And Methods: A monocentric prospective observational study was conducted at the tertiary referral center of the Université libre de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium after ethical approval by Hopital Erasme's Ethics Committee (ClinicalTrials.
Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is a complex clinical condition with diverse etiologies. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a major contributor to NE cases. However, distinguishing NE subtypes, such as pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 1E (PCH1E), from HIE can be challenging due to overlapping clinical features.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Apnoea of prematurity (AOP) is one of the most common diagnoses among preterm infants. AOP often leads to hypoxemia and bradycardia which are associated with an increased risk of death or disability. In addition to caffeine therapy and non-invasive respiratory support, doxapram might be used to reduce hypoxemic episodes and the need for invasive mechanical ventilation in preterm infants, thereby possibly improving their long-term outcome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is rare in neonates. It is probably an under-recognized condition in the early postnatal period as it presents similarly to the most common perinatal asphyxia and to differentiate the two conditions is challenging. We describe the clinical presentation of a potential new subtype of neonatal HUS triggered by hypoxic-ischemic event.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to evaluate the early changes in serial serum levels of copeptin and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in neonates diagnosed with birth asphyxia, and to determine whether these biomarkers measured in the first 168 hours after birth are predictive of long-term neurodevelopmental outcome. Copeptin and NSE levels were measured from serum samples collected 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 168 hours after birth from 75 term neonates diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and treated with therapeutic hypothermia for 72 hours. In addition, serum copeptin levels after birth were measured from 10 HIE diagnosed neonates, who were randomized to the normothermic arm of the TOBY cohort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Inflammatory cytokines are implicated in the pathogenesis of perinatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI). The influence of hypothermia (HT) on cytokines after HI is unclear. Our aim was to assess in a piglet asphyxia model, under normothermic (NT) and HT conditions: (i) the evolution of serum cytokines over 48 h and (ii) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytokine levels at 48 h; (iii) serum pro/anti-inflammatory cytokine profile over 48 h and (iv) relation between brain injury measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and brain TUNEL positive cells with serum cytokines, serum pro/anti-inflammatory cytokines and CSF cytokines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: In infants with moderate to severe neonatal encephalopathy, whole-body cooling at 33°C to 34°C for 72 hours is standard care with a number needed to treat to prevent a adverse outcome of 6 to 7. The precise brain temperature providing optimal neuroprotection is unknown.
Methods: After a quantified global cerebral hypoxic-ischemic insult, 28 piglets aged <24 hours were randomized (each group, n=7) to (1) normothermia (38.
Introduction: The precise temperature for optimal neuroprotection in infants with neonatal encephalopathy is unclear. Our aim was to assess systemic effects of whole-body cooling to 35 °C, 33.5 °C, and 30 °C in a piglet model of perinatal asphyxia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Serum S100B and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels are elevated after perinatal asphyxia, but the influence of hypothermia on these proteins has not been previously reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of systemic hypothermia on these protein levels after perinatal asphyxia, time course, and association with perinatal factors and neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years of age.
Methods: Serum S100B and NSE levels were measured at fixed time points in asphyxiated infants treated with standard intensive care on hypothermia (HT: n = 13) or normothermia (NT: n = 11).
Objective: Additional treatments for therapeutic hypothermia are required to maximize neuroprotection for perinatal asphyxial encephalopathy. We assessed neuroprotective effects of combining inhaled xenon with therapeutic hypothermia after transient cerebral hypoxia-ischemia in a piglet model of perinatal asphyxia using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) biomarkers supported by immunohistochemistry.
Methods: Thirty-six newborn piglets were randomized (all groups n = 9), with intervention from 2 to 26 hours, to: (1) normothermia; (2) normothermia + 24 hours 50% inhaled xenon; (3) 24 hours hypothermia (33.
According to increasing evidence, hypothermia can significantly improve outcomes in term neonates manifesting asphyxic insult and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Oxidative stress plays a key role in hypoxic-ischemic and inflammatory brain injuries. We investigated the impact of hypothermia on oxidative stress in babies with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy continues to be a significant cause of death and disability worldwide. In the last 1-2 years, therapeutic hypothermia has entered clinical practice in industrialized countries and neuroprotection of the newborn has become a reality. The benefits and safety of cooling under intensive care settings have been shown consistently in trials; therapeutic hypothermia reduces death and neurological impairment at 18 months with a number needed to treat of approximately nine.
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