Retroperitoneal Teratoma in a Newborn: A Case Report and Diagnostic Insights.

Retroperitoneal teratomas are rare neoplasms in neonates, presenting with nonspecific symptoms and variable clinical features, making diagnosis challenging. Radiological investigations, particularly fetal ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography, play a critical role in their detection. Differential diagnoses include neuroblastoma, adrenal hemorrhage, and congenital cystic lesions, which share overlapping clinical and imaging features.

The effect of cesarean delivery on the neonatal gut microbiome in an under-resourced population in the Bronx, NY, USA.

Background: Neonatal and early-life gut microbiome changes are associated with altered cardiometabolic and immune development. In this study, we explored Cesarean delivery effects on the gut microbiome in our high-risk, under-resourced Bronx, NY population.

Results: Fecal samples from the Bronx MomBa Health Study (Bronx MomBa Health Study) were categorized by delivery mode (vaginal/Cesarean) and analyzed via 16 S rRNA gene sequencing at four timepoints over the first two years of life.

Optimizing clinical care and training in the neonatal intensive care unit: the relationship between front line providers and physician trainees.

Changes in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) coverage models, restrictions in trainee work hours, and alterations to the training requirements of pediatric house staff have led to a rapid increase in utilization of front-line providers (FLPs) in the NICU. FLP describes a provider who cares for neonates and infants in the delivery room, nursery, and NICU, and includes nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and/or hospitalists. The increasing presence and responsibility of FLPs in the NICU have fundamentally changed the way patient care is provided as well as the learning environment for trainees.

Building Relationships: Advanced Practice Providers and Fellows in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.

Objective: Advanced practice providers (APPs) are a critical component of health care teams, especially in the neonatal intensive care unit. At times, APPs and neonatal-perinatal medicine (NPM) fellows may experience tension in their professional relationship. They may perceive the other's performance and abilities differently.

Premature infants with gestational age less than 25 weeks require increased ophthalmology resources for retinopathy of prematurity.

Background: It is unclear how increasing survival of low gestational age (GA) infants affects ophthalmologic screening and treatment rates for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This study compared the examination and treatment rates of infants born at GA of <25 weeks and those born at GA of at least 25 weeks.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients who met institutional ROP screening criteria and were admitted to two neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) from January 2017 to June 2020.

Clinical characteristics of premature infants who orally feed on continuous positive airway pressure.

Background: Between 32 and 34 weeks postconceptional age (PCA), premature infants typically achieve neuromuscular maturation to initiate the coordination of a nutritive suck triad. Many premature infants also require intubation, which has been associated with dysphagia in adults and infants. At our institution, despite these factors, some infants have been noted to tolerate oral feeds while on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Immune tolerance attenuates gut dysbiosis, dysregulated uterine gene expression and high-fat diet potentiated preterm birth in mice.

Background: Preterm delivery accounts for 85% of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Although the consumption of a high-fat diet leads to exaggerated proinflammatory responses and, in pregnant women, increased rates of spontaneous preterm birth, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Objective: We sought to elucidate the mechanisms by which maternal consumption of a high-fat diet leads to a dysregulated immune response and, subsequently, spontaneous preterm birth.

Relationship between Early Antibiotic Exposure and Short-Term Growth Velocity in Premature Neonates.

Objective: To characterize the relationship between the duration of antibiotic administration during the first week of life and subsequent growth velocity during hospitalization.

Study Design: This was a retrospective study comparing the inhospital growth of infants born between 30 and 32 weeks' gestational age (GA) admitted to the Montefiore Weiler and Wakefield neonatal intensive care units between January 2009 and December 2015. Antibiotic duration during the first week of life was classified as no antibiotics, <5 days of antibiotics, or ≥5 days of antibiotics.

Effect of perinatal glucocorticoids on vascular health and disease.

The benefits of antenatal glucocorticoids are now firmly established in the perinatal management of threatened preterm birth. Postnatal glucocorticoid therapy, however, remains controversial in neonatal medicine, with the need to balance short-term physiological benefits against the potential for long-term adverse consequences. This review focuses on the vascular effects of prenatal and postnatal glucocorticoids, synthesizing data from both experimental animal models and human infants with the goal of better appreciation of the short and long-term effects of these commonly used drugs.

Beyond bacteria: a study of the enteric microbial consortium in extremely low birth weight infants.

Extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants have high morbidity and mortality, frequently due to invasive infections from bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The microbial communities present in the gastrointestinal tracts of preterm infants may serve as a reservoir for invasive organisms and remain poorly characterized. We used deep pyrosequencing to examine the gut-associated microbiome of 11 ELBW infants in the first postnatal month, with a first time determination of the eukaryote microbiota such as fungi and nematodes, including bacteria and viruses that have not been previously described.