"Tele-rounding" with a remotely controlled mobile robot in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of 'tele-rounding' in the neonatal intensive care.

Methods: In this prospective study utilizing telemedicine technology in the NICU for daily patient bedside rounds ('tele-rounds'), twenty pairs of neonates were matched according to gestational age, diagnoses, and disease severity. One patient was cared for by the on-site NICU team lead by an on-site neonatologist.

Acetazolamide for the management of chronic metabolic alkalosis in neonates and infants.

In this study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of acetazolamide in the management of chronic metabolic alkalosis in neonates and infants with chronic respiratory insufficiency. A retrospective chart review of 90 patients treated with acetazolamide between 2006 and 2007 admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit was performed. Blood gases and electrolytes obtained at baseline and by 24 hours after acetazolamide administration were compared.

Constitutive IL-10 expression by lung inflammatory cells and risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Expression of IL-10 is decreased in lungs of preterm infants. We determined the constitutive and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced IL-10 synthesis by lung inflammatory cells from preterm and term infants and examined their relationship to gestational age and/or incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). A total of 37 infants; preterm neonates at gestational ages of 23-27 wk (group 1); 28-34 wk (group 2), and four full-term infants with meconium aspiration (group 3) were enrolled.