Distal skin vasodilation in sleep preparedness, and its impact on thermal status in preterm neonates.

Objective: Prior to sleep onset in human adults, distal body temperatures change progressively from wakefulness levels (low skin temperatures and a high core temperature) to sleep levels (high skin temperatures and a low core temperature) due to distal skin vasodilation and greater body cooling. It is not known whether this sleep preparedness exists in preterm neonates, even though sleep has a key role in neonatal health and neurodevelopment. The present study's objectives were to determine whether sleep preparedness (as observed in adults) can be evidenced in preterm neonates, and to assess repercussions on thermal stress.

Distal skin vasodilation promotes rapid sleep onset in preterm neonates.

Although sleep is of paramount importance for preterm neonates, care of the latter in a neonatal intensive care unit does not favour sleep. Given that several studies in adults have described a 'vegetative preparedness to sleep' (in which distal skin vasodilation before lights-out promotes rapid sleep onset), we looked at whether or not this process operates in preterm neonates. Sleep propensity was assessed in terms of the duration of a spontaneous episode of wakefulness (W).

Vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy in 29 children.

Background/purpose: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been demonstrated to be safe and effective for adults and children with drug-resistant epilepsy and is able to improve most types of epilepsy. The aim of this study, in a paediatric population, was to assess the overall efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation on seizures, to assess tolerability and quality of life.

Methods: This single-centre, retrospective study reviewed the files of 29 children in whom a vagus nerve stimulator was implanted between 1995 and 2012.