Prediction of respiratory distress syndrome by the microbubble stability test on gastric aspirates in newborns of less than 32 weeks' gestation.

Aim: There is a need for a rapid method to identify infants who will develop respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) soon after birth, to allow early treatment of affected infants with surfactant. The microbubble stability test (MST) may be one such method, but clinical experience is sparse.

Methods: The MST was performed on gastric aspirates from 188 infants with a mean gestational age of 29 (range 23-31) wk.

[Emergency transport of newborn infants--fetch or bring?].

Introduction: Neonatal transport is difficult and often associated with problems. In 1998, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Copenhagen, H:S Rigshospitalet, set up a neonatal transport team. The aim of this study was to assess whether a better quality of high risk transport could justify the increased consumption of time.

[The first Danish experiences with neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation].

In 1995, neonatal extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was established at the Department of Neonatology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen. The indication for ECMO is circulatory or respiratory failure with arterial oxygen tension below 8 kPa despite maximal conventional treatment. During the first two and a half years 17 newborn infants and one child of 21 months have been treated with ECMO at the Rigshospital.

Lung hypoplasia--a possible teratogenic effect of valproate. Case report.

Three cases of lung hypoplasia occurring in two siblings and in an unrelated child are reported. All three cases had been exposed to valproate in utero. The two female siblings had no other malformations, whereas the third female had a number of defects consistent with the fetal valproate syndrome.

Retinopathy of prematurity: review of a seven-year period in a Danish neonatal intensive care unit.

In the period 1985-1991, 21,675 infants were born at the University Hospital of Copenhagen, Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark. Two hundred and twenty-four infants (10.3%) with birth weights < or = 1500 g and gestational ages < or = 32 completed weeks were transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital.