Comparative analysis of foetal and neonatal growth curves.

Introduction: Our aim was to determine which foetal or neonatal growth curves discriminate the probability of dying of newborns with low birth weight for their gestational age (small for gestational age, SGA) and sex (weight < 10th percentile) and to establish the curves that are presumably most useful for monitoring growth through age 10 years.

Material And Methods: The analysis included every neonate (15 122) managed in our hospital (2013-2022) and all neonates born preterm before 32 weeks (6913) registered in the SEN1500 database (2019-2022). We considered most useful those curves with the highest likelihood ratio (LR) for dying with or without a history of SGA in each subgroup of gestational ages.

Lung Microbiota and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in the Neonatal Period.

The lung microbiota is a complex community of microorganisms that colonize the respiratory tract of individuals from, or even before, birth. Although the lungs were traditionally believed to be sterile, recent research has shown that there is a diversity of bacterial species in the respiratory system. Knowledge about the lung microbiota in newborns and its relationship with bacterial infections is of vital importance to understand the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases in neonatal patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.

Improved efficiency in the management of newborns with infectious risk factors by the sepsis risk calculator and clinical observation.

Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of the sepsis risk calculator and the serial clinical observation in the management of late preterm and term newborns with infectious risk factors.

Method: Single-center, observational, two-phase cohort study comparing the rates of neonates born ≥35 weeks' gestation, ≥2000 g birthweight, and without major congenital anomalies, who were screened and/or received antibiotics for early-onset neonatal sepsis risk at our center during two periods, before (January/2018-June/2019) and after (July/2019-December/2020) the implementation of the sepsis risk calculator.

Results: A total of 1796 (Period 1) and 1867 (Period 2) patients with infectious risk factors were included.

Morbidity and Mortality of Very-Low-Birthweight Twin Infants according to Their Sex and the Sex of the Co-Twin: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Introduction: The concept of male disadvantage regarding the prognosis of premature newborns was introduced more than half a century ago, and it has been corroborated over time. However, the influence of the sex of one twin on the outcomes of the other has yielded contradictory results.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine if, in twin pregnancies of VLBW infants, the outcomes of one twin are modified by the sex of the co-twin.

Birth order and morbidity and mortality to hospital discharge among inborn very low-birthweight, very preterm twin infants admitted to neonatal intensive care: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To know the association of birth order with the risk of morbidity and mortality in very low-birthweight (VLBW) twin infants less than 32 weeks' gestational age (GA).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Infants admitted to the collaborating centres of the Spanish SEN1500 neonatal network.

Management of neonates with 35 weeks of gestational age or more with infectious risk factors at birth: opportunities for improvement.

Objectives: The Northern California Kaiser-Permanente Neonatal Sepsis Risk Calculator (SRC) has proved to be safe and effective in reducing laboratory tests, hospital admissions, and administration of antibiotics to patients at risk of early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS). Many studies have focused on maternal chorioamnionitis as the principal risk factor for EONS. We wanted to know if the use of the SRC could be equally efficient in the context of several other infectious risk factors (IRF), in addition to chorioamnionitis, such as intrapartum maternal fever, GBS colonization and/or prolonged rupture of membranes (PROM).

Effects of public health measures during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the winter respiratory syncytial virus epidemic: An interrupted time series analysis.

Background: Public health measures (PHM) designed to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic have influenced the epidemiological characteristics of other viral infections. Its impact on acute RSV bronchiolitis in infants of ≤24 months old has not been systematically studied in our setting.

Objectives: To describe the monthly pattern of visits to the Paediatric Emergency Department (PED) of patients 0 to 14 years of age, the rate of patients diagnosed with RSV acute bronchiolitis per thousand inhabitants of 0 to 24 months, and the rate of them requiring hospital admission during the winter 2020-2021, in the context of local and national COVID-19 restrictions and compare them to the four previous seasons.

Intercenter variability and factors associated with survival without bronchopulmonary dysplasia in extremely preterm newborns.

Variability in clinical practice may influence morbidity and mortality in extremely preterm infants. We aimed to know if there are differences in survival and survival without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in extremely preterm infants in Spanish tertiary hospitals and the potential associated factors. Fifteen hospitals from the SEN1500 network were studied.

Neural breathing patterns in preterm newborns supported with non-invasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist.

Objective: To characterize the neural breathing pattern in preterm infants supported with non-invasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NIV-NAVA).

Study Design: Single-center prospective observational study. The electrical activity of the diaphragm (EAdi) was periodically recorded in 30-second series with the Edi catheter and the Servo-n software (Maquet, Solna, Sweden) in preterm infants supported with NIV-NAVA.

Variations in the number of births by day of the week, and morbidity and mortality in very-low-birth-weight infants.

Objective: To know the distribution of births of very low birth weight infants by day of the week, and whether this distribution affects the morbidity and mortality in this group of patients.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of data collected prospectively in the Spanish SEN1500 network (2002-2011). Outborn infants, patients with major congenital anomalies, and those who died in the delivery room were excluded.

End-of-Life Care and Survival without Major Brain Damage in Newborns at the Limit of Viability.

Background: The probabilities of survival and survival without major brain damage (MBD) are low in newborns at the limit of viability. Survival without MBD constitutes a major concern for parents and professionals.

Objectives: To know the probabilities of survival without MBD in newborns ≤26 weeks' gestational age (GA) relative to the total number of survivors, whether these probabilities vary with GA, and how end-of-life (EoL) decisions influence these results.

Perinatal risk factors for pneumothorax and morbidity and mortality in very low birth weight infants.

Aim: To determine the perinatal risk factors for pneumothorax in Very-Low-Birth-Weight (VLBW) infants and the associated morbidity and mortality in this population.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of data collected prospectively from a cohort of VLBW neonates assisted in our Unit (2006-2013). We included all consecutive in-born patients with ≤ 1500 g, without severe congenital anomalies.