Discharge criteria, practices, and decision-making in the transition of preterm infants to home.

Background: Early discharge to neonatal home care is common practice for preterm infants in Sweden but the evidence base for assessing infant and parent readiness is limited and there are no nationally defined discharge guidelines or criteria. To investigate potential facilitators and barriers in the transition to home, we examined discharge criteria, pre- and post-discharge practices, and staff decision-making.

Methods: All (n = 36) Swedish units participated in this descriptive mixed method study based on semi-structured interviews with one physician and one registered nurse representing each unit.

Parent-infant closeness and care practices during therapeutic hypothermia in Swedish neonatal intensive care units.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate care practices among Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) providing Therapeutic hypothermia (TH), and more specific to investigate staff's experiences of parental participation, presence, and possibilities of being close with their infant during TH.

Methods: A descriptive, qualitative, and quantitative study. All Swedish NICUs providing TH (n = 10) participated.

Neonatal therapeutic hypothermia in a regional swedish cohort: Adherence to guidelines, transport and outcomes.

Aim: Swedish guidelines for therapeutic hypothermia (TH) after perinatal asphyxia were established in 2007, following several randomised studies that demonstrated improved outcomes. We assessed the implementation of hypothermia treatment in a mid-Swedish region with a sizeable proportion of outborn infants.

Method: A population-based TH cohort from 2007 to 2015 was scrutinised for adherence to national guidelines, interhospital transport, including the use of a cooling mattress made of phase change material for thermal management, and outcomes.

A follow up on the feasibility after national implementation of magnesium sulfate for neuroprotection prior to preterm birth.

Introduction: The risk for brain injury manifested as cerebral palsy is higher in very preterm born children than in term. Prenatal administration of magnesium sulfate (MgSO ) has been shown to be neuroprotective and reduces the proportion of very preterm born children later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. A Swedish national clinical practice guideline was implemented in March 2020, stipulating the administration of a single intravenous dose of 6 g MgSO 1-24 h prior to delivery before gestational age 32+0, aiming for 90% treatment coverage.

Nordic survey showed wide variation in discharge practices for very preterm infants.

Aim: We aimed to describe clinical practices and criteria for discharge of very preterm infants in Nordic neonatal units.

Methods: Medical directors of all 89 level-2 and level-3 units in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden were invited by e-mail to complete a web-based multiple-choice survey with the option to make additional free-text comments.

Results: We received responses from 83/89 units (93%).

Outcomes in children after mild neonatal hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy: A population-based cohort study.

Objective: To investigate whether mild neonatal hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) in term born infants is associated with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, mental retardation and death up to 6 years of age.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Setting: Sweden, 2009-2015.

Early Hyperglycemia in Very Preterm Infants Is Associated with Reduced White Matter Volume and Worse Cognitive and Motor Outcomes at 2.5 Years.

Introduction: Hyperglycemia in very preterm infants is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We aimed to investigate potential associations between early hyperglycemia, neonatal cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and neurodevelopment at 2.5 years.

Randomized controlled trial of low vs high oxygen during neonatal anesthesia: Oxygenation, feasibility, and oxidative stress.

Background: To reduce risk for intermittent hypoxia a high fraction of inspired oxygen is routinely used during anesthesia induction. This differs from the cautious dosing of oxygen during neonatal resuscitation and intensive care and may result in significant hyperoxia.

Aim: In a randomized controlled trial, we evaluated oxygenation during general anesthesia with a low (23%) vs a high (80% during induction and recovery, and 40% during maintenance) fraction of inspired oxygen, in newborn infants undergoing surgery.

Nursing care of infants born extremely preterm.

With improving survival at the lowest gestations an increasing number of tiny and vulnerable infants are being cared for, and optimal outcomes require an approach to care that takes their specific characteristics into account. These include immature organ function and a risk for iatrogenic injury, and parental/familial strain due to the high degree of uncertainty, infant-mother separation, and long hospital stay. While the challenges in providing nursing care to these infants are obvious it is also clear that this field has tremendous potential to influence both short and long-term outcomes of this population.

Sodium supply from administered blood products was associated with severe intraventricular haemorrhage in extremely preterm infants.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between sodium supply, fluid volume, sodium imbalances and severe intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) in extremely preterm (EPT) infants.

Methods: We used data from the EXtremely PREterm infants in Sweden Study (EXPRESS) cohort consisting of all infants born at 22 to 26 gestational weeks from 2004 to 2007 and conducted a nested case-control study. For every infant with severe IVH (grade 3 or peri-ventricular haemorrhagic infarction), one IVH-free control infant with the birthday closest to the case infant and matched for hospital, sex, gestational age and birth weight was selected (n = 70 case-control pairs).

Risk factors for seizures in the vigorous term neonate: A population-based register study of singleton births in Sweden.

Background: Neonatal seizures have been associated with increased mortality and impaired neurodevelopment and, knowledge about risk factors may be useful for prevention. Clear associations have been established between labor-related risk factors and seizures in asphyxiated neonates. However, there is limited information about why some vigorous term-born infants experience seizures.

The Swedish approach to nurturing extremely preterm infants and their families: A nursing perspective.

Nurturing extremely premature infants is a complicated task that not only necessitates a systematic approach to the immature physiology and its medical management, but also to the needs of the family. Infants born at 22-24 weeks require many weeks of intensive care including a long duration of mechanical ventilation, numerous stressful medical interventions, and for the parents to spend a lot of time in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit (NICU). This paper aims to outline the Swedish nursing approach to nurturing these infants and their families.

Fluid management considerations in extremely preterm infants born at 22-24 weeks of gestation.

Emerging data regarding the encouraging outcomes of extremely preterm infants from centers taking active approaches to the care of these infants have prompted dialogue regarding optimal medical management. Among the multitude of decisions providers make in caring for extremely premature infants is the prescribing of parenteral fluids. Surprisingly, there are limited data to guide evidenced-based approaches to fluid and electrolyte management in this population.

The proactive approach to mother-infant dyads at 22-24 weeks of gestation: Perspectives from a Swedish center.

The care of infants born at the lowest extreme of gestation requires dedication, skill, and experience. Most centers apply a selective approach where intensive care at these gestational ages is being offered to a varying proportion of infants depending on the views and experiences of the medical community, the individual physician, and the parents. Consequently, the outcomes differ dramatically with survival rates at 22-23 weeks ranging from 0 to greater than 50%.

Early extubation is associated with shorter duration of mechanical ventilation and lower incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Introduction: Respiratory care of extremely preterm infants remains a challenge. The majority require invasive mechanical ventilation (MV), which is a contributing factor in developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). It is important to keep MV to a minimum but there have been concerns that attempting extubation too early increases the risk for atelectasis, re-intubation, and further lung trauma.

Established severe BPD: is there a way out? Change of ventilatory paradigms.

Improved survival of extremely preterm newborn infants has increased the number of infants at risk for developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Despite efforts to prevent BPD, many of these infants still develop severe BPD (sBPD) and require long-term invasive mechanical ventilation. The focus of research and clinical management has been on the prevention of BPD, which has had only modest success.

Outcomes of a uniformly active approach to infants born at 22-24 weeks of gestation.

Objective: To determine survival and outcomes in infants born at 22-24 weeks of gestation in a centre with a uniformly active approach to management of extremely preterm infants.

Study Design: Single-centre retrospective cohort study including infants born 2006-2015. Short-term morbidities assessed included retinopathy of prematurity, necrotising enterocolitis, patent ductus arteriosus, intraventricular haemorrhage, periventricular malacia and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

When all I wanted was to hold my baby-The experiences of parents of infants who received therapeutic hypothermia.

Aim: The knowledge is limited about how parents experience the time when their infant is receiving therapeutic hypothermia (TH) after severe perinatal asphyxia. The aim of this study was to explore parents' experience of closeness and involvement in their infant's care while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with their newborn undergoing TH.

Methods: Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents (n = 11) whose infants (n = 8, aged 3-5 years at the time of the study) underwent TH at a level III Swedish NICU during 2013-2016.

Physiological Stability in Very Preterm Infants During Skin-to-Skin Contact as Assessed by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Background: Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) has been demonstrated to allow adequate thermal stability in high-technology settings with extremely preterm infants, while other aspects on how SSC influences basic physiological parameters have been less extensively investigated.

Purpose: To evaluate physiological stability during SSC and incubator care in a group of preterm infants born at a gestational age (GA) of 32 weeks or less and receiving respiratory support.

Methods: Descriptive, observational study including 10 preterm infants (GA 22-32 weeks, postnatal age 2-48 days) were evaluated during SSC compared with flanking time periods in the incubator.