[kokon: Rehabilitation for Young People in Rohrbach-Berg, Austria].

Kokon Rohrbach-Berg is the first Austrian rehabilitation clinic exclusively built for children and teenagers aged 0-18. There are 77 beds for patients available at kokon Rohrbach-Berg, with an additional 67 beds for accompanying chaperones.We are specialized in the fields of mobilisation, cardiologic and pulmologic disorders as well as in mental health rehabilitation.

N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide urinary concentrations and retinopathy of prematurity.

BackgroundTo validate the findings of a single-center pilot study showing elevated urinary N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) concentrations in preterm infants subsequently developing severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in a multicenter setting across eight European and Middle East countries.MethodsProspective observational study in 967 preterm infants <30 weeks' gestational age assessing the capacity of urinary NTproBNP on days of life (DOLs) 14 and 28 to predict ROP requiring treatment.ResultsUrinary NTproBNP concentrations were markedly elevated in infants who developed ROP requiring treatment (n=94) compared with survivors without ROP treatment (n=837), at both time points (median (interquartile range) DOL14: 8,950 (1,925-23,783) vs.

Facial nerve paralysis in children: is it as benign as supposed?

Background: Facial nerve paralysis is a common disease in children. Most of the patients show complete recovery. This single-center cohort study exclusively included pediatric patients to investigate the outcome of all patients with facial nerve palsy.

Aminoterminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide: heart or lung disease in the neonate?

Objectives: B-type natriuretic peptides have been shown to enable differentiation between heart and lung diseases in adults and children. In neonates, the role of natriuretic peptides for diagnosis of congenital heart defect (CHD) is not yet ascertained. The purpose of this single-center prospective study was to investigate aminoterminal B-type natriuretic peptide concentrations and their time courses during the first 5 days of life in neonates with CHD compared with neonates with respiratory distress.

Levosimendan versus milrinone in neonates and infants after corrective open-heart surgery: a pilot study.

Objective: Low cardiac output syndrome commonly complicates the postoperative course after open-heart surgery in children. To prevent low cardiac output syndrome, prophylactic administration of milrinone after cardiopulmonary bypass is commonly used in small children. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of prophylactically administered levosimendan and milrinone on cardiac index in neonates and infants after corrective open-heart surgery.

Tocolysis with the β-2-sympathomimetic hexoprenaline increases occurrence of infantile haemangioma in preterm infants.

Background: Infantile haemangioma (IH) is the most commonly observed tumour in children. Off-label pharmacological treatment of IH with the beta-blocker propranolol induces regression of IH. Based on the fact that IH are more frequently observed in premature babies than in mature babies and the evidence that beta-blocker therapy leads to regression of IH, the authors generated the hypothesis that the use of β-2-sympathomimetics during pregnancy for inhibiting premature labour might increase occurrence of IH in preterm infants.

Recommendations from the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology for training in paediatric cardiac intensive care.

The following document provides a summary of the guidelines and recommendations for paediatric cardiac intensive care training as a requirement for recognition as a European paediatric cardiologist. It is therefore primarily targeting paediatric cardiology trainees in Europe, including those doctors who might wish to become experts in cardiac intensive care. These recommendations represent a frame for consistency, will evolve, and may be adapted to specific institutional requirements.

Aminoterminal brain-type natriuretic peptide levels correlate with heart failure in patients with bidirectional Glenn anastomosis and with morbidity after the Fontan operation.

Objective: The aims of this study were to generate normal values of aminoterminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in children with a bidirectional Glenn anastomosis without congestive heart failure and to test the hypothesis that plasma levels of aminoterminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide correlate with the clinical severity of congestive heart failure and morbidity after the Fontan operation.

Methods: Aminoterminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide plasma levels of 78 patients after the bidirectional Glenn operation with a median age of 3.2 years and a median follow-up time of 3 years were measured by using an automated enzyme immunoassay.

Open-heart surgery in premature and low-birth-weight infants--a single-centre experience.

Objective: Because of their poor clinical status, infants may require surgery for congenital heart disease regardless of weight or prematurity. This retrospective review describes a single-centre experience with open-heart surgery in low-weight infants.

Methods: From November 1997 to December 2006, 411 open-heart surgery procedures were performed in neonates.

Amino terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide levels are elevated in the cord blood of neonates with congenital heart defect.

This prospective study investigates whether amino terminal proB-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels are elevated in neonates with congenital heart defect (CHD). NT-proBNP levels in the umbilical cord blood of 60 neonates with prenatally diagnosed CHD, in the cord blood of 200 control subjects, and in the plasma of the respective mothers were analyzed using an automated enzyme immunoassay. NT-proBNP concentrations in the cord blood of the CHD group were significantly elevated compared with controls [median (range): 158 pg/mL (378-3631 pg/mL) and 626 pg/mL (153-2518 pg/mL); p value <0.

Early primary repair of tetralogy of fallot in neonates and infants less than four months of age.

Background: The ideal age for correction of tetralogy of Fallot is still under discussion. The aim of this study was to analyze morbidity and mortality in patients who underwent early primary repair of tetralogy of Fallot at the age of less than 4 months and to assess whether neonates, who needed early repair within the first 4 weeks of life, faced an increased risk.

Methods: From 1995 to 2006, 90 consecutive patients with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary stenosis underwent early primary repair.

Aminoterminal brain natriuretic peptide levels in children and adolescents after Fontan operation correlate with congestive heart failure.

The aim of this study was to generate normal values of amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) in children and adolescents after Fontan operation without congestive heart failure (CHF) and to test the hypothesis that plasma levels of NT-pro-BNP correlate with the clinical severity of CHF. NT-pro-BNP plasma levels of 59 consecutive patients, with a median age of 8.4 years, after Fontan operation were measured using an automated enzyme immunoassay.

Arginine-vasopressin in neonates with vasodilatory shock after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Unlabelled: Successful therapy of vasodilatory shock in adults and children with arginine-vasopressin (AVP) has been reported previously. Data on the use of vasopressin in neonates is limited. This retrospective study reports the effects of AVP-treatment in neonates with catecholamine-resistant systemic vasodilatation after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Use of levosimendan, a new inodilator, for postoperative myocardial stunning in a premature neonate.

Objective: To first report the successful use of the new inodilator levosimendan in a premature infant with congestive heart failure (CHF) following cardiac surgery. Although the calcium sensitizer levosimendan improves hemodynamics in adults with CHF, no data are available on the use of levosimendan in premature infants with CHF.

Design: Single case report.

Utility of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide to differentiate cardiac diseases from noncardiac diseases in young pediatric patients.

Background: Previous studies comparing children with cardiac disease with children with lung disease or healthy children indicated that natriuretic peptides are promising markers in pediatric patients. The aim of this study was to further clarify the diagnostic usefulness of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measurements in a less preselected population of children younger than 3 years, a population in which clinical symptoms are frequently unspecific.

Methods: NT-proBNP concentrations (Roche Diagnostics) were measured in sera of 142 pediatric patients (age range, 33-1070 days) presenting at the Gynaecologic and Pediatric Hospital (Linz, Austria) between January 2003 and January 2004.

The clinical effect of LLLT in endodontic surgery: a prospective study on 72 cases.

Objectives: The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate a possible clinical benefit of LLLT in endodontic surgery.

Study Design: Seventy-two endosurgery cases on incisors and premolars were included to the study and were split randomly into an LLLT test group, a placebo group, and a control group. In the LLLT group, irradiation was performed intraoperatively and postoperatively 1, 3, and 7 days after surgery.

Right ventricular to pulmonary artery conduit instead of modified Blalock-Taussig shunt improves postoperative hemodynamics in newborns after the Norwood operation.

Objective: Perioperative mortality, prolonged postoperative recovery after the Norwood procedure, and mortality between stage I and stage II might be related to shunt physiology. A right ventricular to pulmonary artery conduit offers a banded physiology in contrast to a Blalock-Taussig shunt. The purpose of this study was to assess the hemodynamic differences and their consequences in the postoperative course between Norwood patients with a Blalock-Taussig shunt and those with a right ventricular to pulmonary artery conduit.