Usefulness of tissue transglutaminase type 2 antibodies in early pregnancy.

Celiac disease (CD), an autoimmune disease triggered by dietary gluten, is a multi-systemic disorder that primarily results in mucosal damage of the small intestine. Reproductive disorders and pregnancy complications have been associated with CD. Conflicting results have been published concerning CD and the risk of impaired fetal growth with reduced birthweight.

Ranitidine is associated with infections, necrotizing enterocolitis, and fatal outcome in newborns.

Background And Objectives: Gastric acidity is a major nonimmune defense mechanism against infections. The objective of this study was to investigate whether ranitidine treatment in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants is associated with an increased risk of infections, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and fatal outcome.

Methods: Newborns with birth weight between 401 and 1500 g or gestational age between 24 and 32 weeks, consecutively observed in neonatal intensive care units, were enrolled in a multicenter prospective observational study.

Serum calprotectin: an antimicrobial peptide as a new marker for the diagnosis of sepsis in very low birth weight newborns.

To determine the diagnostic utility of serum calprotectin, a mediator of innate immune response against infections, we performed a multicenter study involving newborns with a birth weight < 1500 g and a postnatal age >72 hours of life. The diagnostic accuracy of serum calprotectin was compared with that of the most commonly used markers of neonatal sepsis (white blood cell count, immature-to-total-neutrophil ratio, platelet count, and C-reactive protein). We found that the serum calprotectin concentration was significantly higher (P < .

Plasma levels of conjugated bile acids in newborns after a short period of parenteral nutrition.

Background: Patients receiving parenteral nutrition (PN) frequently exhibit liver dysfunction. The authors previously reported that plant sterols of lipid emulsions added to the nutritional solution of newborns receiving PN accumulate in plasma and cell membranes and may contribute to the development of cholestasis. Conjugated bile acids (BA) have been shown to be useful markers of cholestasis.

Maturation of gastric electrical activity, gastric emptying and intestinal permeability in preterm newborns during the first month of life.

Introduction: Immaturity of motility, intestinal epithelial barrier function and absorptive capacity may play a role in the pathophysiology of intestinal diseases in preterms. We determined the gastric electrical activity and emptying, and intestinal permeability, in preterm newborns to verify if a maturation pattern exists in preterm newborns during the first month of life.

Patients And Methods: Eighteen preterm newborns (median 34 wks, range 2 wks) completed the study.

Use of real time continuous glucose monitoring and intravenous insulin in type 1 diabetic mothers to prevent respiratory distress and hypoglycaemia in infants.

Background: Pregnancy in Type 1 diabetic patients is a precarious condition, both for mother and fetus with increased the risk of prematurity and, immediately after delivery with risk of respiratory distress syndrome and hypoglycaemia in newborns. A strict control and monitoring of diabetes throughout pregnancy is important in reducing the impact of the disease on the fetus and newborn. In recent years many new technologies have been introduced to ameliorate diabetes monitoring, where the last is the Real-time Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (RT-CGMS).

Neonatal onset intestinal failure: an Italian Multicenter Study.

Objective: To describe the natural course of intestinal failure with onset in the neonatal period to provide data regarding the occurrence and to provide a population-based survey regarding the spectrum of underlying diseases.

Study Design: We performed a retrospective chart review including infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of 7 Italian tertiary care centers. Intestinal failure was defined as a primary intestinal disease that induces the need of total parenteral nutrition (PN) for more than 4 weeks or the need of partial PN for more than 3 months.

Intravenous magnesium sulphate vs. inhaled nitric oxide for moderate, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. A Multicentre, retrospective study.

We have compared intravenous magnesium sulphate vs. inhaled nitric oxide in the therapy of moderate persistent pulmonary hypertension of the neonate. A retrospective collection of clinical data from 58 neonates was carried out in six neonatal intensive care units of Southern Italy sharing the same operational protocols.

Development of esophageal peristalsis in preterm and term neonates.

Background & Aims: High-resolution manometry demonstrates a chain of 3 sequential pressure segments that represent esophageal peristalsis in children and adults. We performed high-resolution manometry in preterm and term neonates to determine the ontogenesis of esophageal motility with regard to this segmental architecture.

Methods: Sixteen preterm (gestational age 32.

Evolution of gastric electrical features and gastric emptying in children with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy.

Objectives: Although muscular dystrophy (MD) affects primarily striated muscles, smooth muscle cells of the gastrointestinal tract may also be involved. We recorded gastric electrical activity and gastric emptying time (GET) in children with MD at initial presentation and at 3-yr follow-up in order to detect gastric motor abnormalities and study their evolution along the clinical course.

Methods: Twenty children with MD (median age: 4.