Accuracy of diagnosing acute kidney injury by assessing urine output within the first week of life in extremely preterm infants.

Background: Neonatal acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with increased mortality and is often assessed with the neonatal modified Kidney Disease: improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) classification, which uses changes in serum creatinine levels. However, because this classification has many drawbacks, a novel method, the neonatal Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, and End-Stage Kidney Disease (nRIFLE) classification for diagnosing neonatal AKI according to urine output (UO), was recently proposed. To date, no data on the incidence of AKI according to nRIFLE are available for extremely preterm infants (born at gestational age less than 28 weeks).

The Diagnostic Significance of Comorbidities of Congenital Heart Diseases, Low-Set Ears, and Intrauterine Growth Restriction in Neonates With Trisomies 13 and 18.

Background: Trisomies 13 and 18 (T13/18) are autosomal trisomy syndromes with dismal prognoses. Deciding whether to perform a chromosomal analysis for the definitive diagnosis is often difficult (even for experienced pediatricians) because representative clinical signs may not be found in all T13/18 neonates.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate any clinical signs that could be useful for screening for T13/18 in participants without the representative clinical signs traditionally found in odd-looking neonates with malformation syndromes.

Urinary 8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine: A Biomarker for Radiation-Induced Oxidative DNA Damage in Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization.

Objective: To determine the utility of urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) as a sensitive biomarker for radiation-induced cellular DNA damage in children undergoing cardiac catheterization.

Study Design: We enrolled pediatric patients with congenital heart diseases requiring cardiac catheterization in conjunction with healthy children and children under sedation as control. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and invasive hemodynamic data, urinary 8-OHdG levels, and radiation exposure measurements were collected prospectively.

Elective Cesarean section at 37 weeks is associated with the higher risk of neonatal complications.

Elective Cesarean section performed before 39 weeks of gestation may be associated with increased risk of neonatal complications. We retrospectively investigated differences in the neonatal complication rate between 684 newborns delivered by elective Cesarean section at 37 weeks of gestation (n = 390) and those delivered by the same procedure at 38 weeks (n = 294) between 2006 and 2012 at our hospital in order to ascertain whether adverse outcomes differ between the groups. Newborns delivered at 37 weeks had a significantly higher incidence of neonatal intensive care unit admission (p = 0.

B-type natriuretic peptide for assessment of haemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus in premature infants.

Aim: Haemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA) is frequently observed in premature infants. This study was conducted to explore whether the blood BNP can be a valuable biomarker to assess the necessity of treatment for hsPDA in premature infants.

Methods: Serial measurements of the blood BNP were performed during the first 5 days of life in premature infants with hsPDA (Group I) and those without hsPDA (Group N).

N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide and risk of coronary artery lesions and resistance to intravenous immunoglobulin in Kawasaki disease.

Objective: To determine whether the serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) can be a useful marker not only to identify the patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) who are at a higher risk of developing coronary artery lesions (CAL), and predict resistance to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).

Study Design: We enrolled 80 patients with the acute phase of KD at a single center. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were prospectively collected.

[Usefulness of the FRFSE method in SPIO-MRI].

Aim: Super-paramagnetic iron oxide-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (SPIO-MRI) is highly sensitive for liver tumors. This trial examined the optimal parameters of the fast recovery fast spin echo (FRFSE) method in SPIO-MRI. The FRFSE method is a pulse sequence with recovery of the compulsory longitudinal magnetization.