Comparison of two strategies for surfactant prophylaxis in very premature infants: a multicenter randomized trial.

Introduction: Previous trials of surfactant therapy in premature infants have demonstrated a survival advantage associated with prophylactic therapy as an immediate bolus, compared with the rescue treatment of established respiratory distress syndrome. The optimal strategy for prophylactic therapy, however, remains controversial. When administered as an endotracheal bolus immediately after delivery, surfactant mixes with the absorbing fetal lung fluid and may reach the alveoli before the onset of lung injury.

Acoustic features of normal-hearing pre-term infant cry.

Acoustic features of expiratory cry vocalizations were studied in 125 pre-term infants prior to being discharged from a level-3 neonatal intensive care unit. The purpose was to describe various phonatory behaviors in infants in whom significant hearing loss could be ruled out. We also compared these results with normal-hearing full-term infants, and evaluated whether linkage exists among acoustic cry features and various anthropometric, diagnostic and treatment variables obtained throughout the peri- and neonatal periods.