We analyzed and compared variations in the urinary metabolome, as well as postnatal clinical outcomes among preterm infants, based on the timing of antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) administration in response to preterm labor onset in their mothers. This was a prospective observational study held in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Woman's and Child's Health, Padova University Hospital (Italy). A urine sample was obtained from each patient within 24 h of birth; Mass Spectrometry-based untargeted metabolomics analysis was then conducted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnteroviruses (EVs) are the most common causes of viral myocarditis in neonates. Neonatal enterovirus myocarditis manifestations range from nonspecific febrile illness to congestive heart failure and cardiogenic shock with high risk of in-hospital mortality and long-term cardiac sequelae. Early recognition is essential to undertake appropriate therapy and predict outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The pathobiological mechanisms associated with perinatal asphyxia and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy are complex and poorly understood. The metabolic effects of therapeutic hypothermia have been partially explored.
Methods: We conducted a single-center longitudinal study to investigate the metabolic effects of perinatal asphyxia and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy on the urinary metabolome of a group of 12 asphyctic infants over time compared to 22 matched healthy newborns, using untargeted metabolomics based on mass spectrometry.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is one of the most common pulmonary sequelae of extreme preterm birth, with long-lasting respiratory symptoms and reduced lung function. A reliable predictive tool of BPD development is urgent and its search remains one of the major challenges for neonatologists approaching the upcoming arrival of possible new preventive therapies. Biomarkers, identifying an ongoing pathogenetic pathway, could allow both the selection of preterm infants with an evolving disease and potentially the therapeutic targets of the indicted pathogenesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPerinatal asphyxia (PA) still occurs in about three to five per 1,000 deliveries in developed countries; 20% of these infants show hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of our study was to apply metabolomic analysis to newborns undergoing therapeutic hypothermia (TH) after PA to identify a distinct metabotype associated with the development of HIE on brain MRI. We enrolled 53 infants born at >35 weeks of gestation with PA: 21 of them showed HIE on brain MRI (the "HIE" group), and 32 did not (the "no HIE" group).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfantile Hemangiomas (IH) are the most common benign tumor of infancy, occurring in over 10% of newborns. The head and neck is the most frequently affected area (60%), and the scalp is a typical site for such large lesions. Scalp-IHs are usually focal lesions that can be both disfiguring and may lead to complications such as ulceration and bleeding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Among infants needing urgent transfer after birth, very preterm infants are a high-risk sub-group requiring special attention. This study aimed to assess trends in early respiratory management in a large series of very preterm infants undergoing postnatal transfer.
Methods: Trends in patient characteristics and early respiratory management were assessed in 798 very preterm infants who were transferred by the Eastern Veneto Neonatal Emergency Transport Service in 2000-2019.
A 3-year-old girl came to our attention for fever and upper respiratory tract infection associated with thrombocytopenia, non-immune hemolytic anemia, and acute kidney injury (AKI). Complete blood count and renal function slowly normalized, with no need for dialysis. She was always normotensive with valid diuresis; her neurological status also rapidly improved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSonographic cardiac evaluation of newborns with suspected aortic coarctation (AoC) should tend to demonstrate a good phasic and pulsatile flow and the absence of pressure gradient along a normally conformed aortic arch from the modified left parasternal and suprasternal echocardiographic views; these findings, however, may not necessarily rule out a more distal coarctation in the descending aorta. For this reason, the sonographic exam of newborns with suspected AoC should always include a Doppler evaluation of abdominal aortic blood flow from the subcostal view. Occasionally, however, a clearly pulsatile Doppler flow trace in abdominal aorta may be difficult to obtain due to the bad insonation angle existing between the probe and the vessel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Increasing recent evidence favors paracetamol use for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closure in preterms. Our study aims were (1) to assess efficacy and safety of intravenous (i.v.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubcutaneous fat necrosis (SCFN) is a rare fat tissue inflammation of the newborn. Risk factors include cord prolapse, perinatal asphyxia, therapeutic hypothermia, meconium aspiration, and sepsis. When present, hypercalcemia comes with lethargy, hypotonia, irritability, vomiting, polyuria, polydipsia, constipation, and dehydration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClassic CO (also called Iso-Kikuchi syndrome) represents a benign, isolated condition associated with normal patient outcome. Nevertheless, clinical follow-up and/or further clinically-based tests are needed to exclude other nail diseases associated with multisystem pathology; complete family history is also important to determine sporadic or hereditary transmission of such condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim The aim of this report is to present a brief review of the current literature on the management of EEC. Case Report A term male neonate presented at birth with classic bladder exstrophy, a variant of the exstrophy-epispadias complex (EEC). The defect was covered with sterile silicon gauzes and waterproof dressing; at 72 hours of life, primary closure without osteotomy of bladder, pelvis, and abdominal wall was successfully performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPediatr Dermatol
September 2016
A newborn girl of 36 weeks gestation was noted to have several anomalies, including bilateral low ear attachment with ear pinnae hypertrichosis, left preauricular pit, micrognathia, short lingual frenulum, and short neck. Pregnancy history revealed poorly controlled maternal gestational diabetes (GD). Localized hypertrichosis of the ear pinnae may represent a potential marker of GD and thereby alert physicians to suspect other potentially GD-associated conditions such as macrosomia, asphyxia, respiratory distress, hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, hyperbilirubinemia, polycythemia, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and congenital anomalies, particularly those involving the central nervous system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe a case of 17-year-old Chinese girl referred to our Pediatric Cardiology Unit for asthenia, reduced exercise tolerance, and dyspnea. Past medical history was relevant for multiple chest pain episodes in childhood and several syncopal episodes, for which the patient had been never evaluated. Clinical examination, electrocardiogram, and echocardiography were compatible with Williams-Beuren syndrome; such condition was later confirmed by genetic analysis.
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