Blood pressure increase preceded spontaneous and paracetamol-induced, early ductal closure in very preterm infants.

Aim: To investigate the blood pressure (BP) and ductal calibre patterns associated with early ductal closure in very low gestational age (<32 weeks) infants.

Methods: Blood pressure was continuously measured intra-arterially among 43 infants participating in a randomised, double-blind trial of 4 days prophylactic intravenous paracetamol. Early closure of the ductus was verified by daily ultrasound examinations.

Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability in Healthy Preterm-Born Young Adults and Association with Vitamin D: A Wearable Device Assessment.

Prematurity has been associated with impaired parasympathetic cardiac regulation later in life. Changes in heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) may indicate a risk for future cardiac dysfunction. The putative role of Vitamin D on cardiac autonomic function in individuals born preterm (PT) remains unknown.

Preterm-Born Young Women Have Weaker Hand Grip Strength Compared to Their Full-Term-Born Peers.

Prematurity has been linked to lower muscular fitness and increased morbidity across the human lifespan. Hand grip strength is widely used as a measure of muscle strength. Previous studies have shown inconsistent results regarding the role of vitamin D in hand grip strength.

A longitudinal study of facial asymmetry in a normal birth cohort up to 6 years of age and the predisposing factors.

Objectives: This prospective, population-based cohort study aimed to investigate the development of facial asymmetry up to 6 years of age using a three-dimensional (3D) soft tissue imaging method in a normal population. In addition, the study sought to identify potential predisposing factors to facial asymmetry.

Methods: A total of 102 newborns were enrolled in the study at birth.

Inflammatory biomarkers in very preterm infants during early intravenous paracetamol administration.

Background: Paracetamol promotes early closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), and it may affect inflammation after preterm birth.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between paracetamol treatment and serum inflammatory biomarkers in very preterm infants with respiratory distress.

Study Design: The infants were randomly assigned to intravenous paracetamol or placebo during the first 4 days of life, and others received a lower dose of paracetamol unblinded.

Bilateral Motor Responses to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Preterm Children at 9 Years of Age.

Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate motor tracts integrity in nondisabled preterm-born (PT) children at 9 years of age.

Methods: Overall, 18 PT and 13 term-born (T) children without motor disability were assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were measured bilaterally from the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and the tibialis anterior (TA) muscles.

Treatment outcome of neonatal hip instability.

Aims: We aimed to determine hip-related quality of life and clinical findings following treatment for neonatal hip instability (NHI) compared with age- and sex-matched controls. We hypothesized that NHI would predispose to hip discomfort in long-term follow-up.

Methods: We invited those born between 1995 and 2001 who were treated for NHI at our hospital to participate in this population-based study.

Subgroup analysis of the early paracetamol trial to preterm infants found haemodynamic changes and improved oxygenation.

Background: We previously reported in a randomised trial that early intravenous paracetamol accelerated contraction of ductus arteriosus in very preterm infants (<32 gestation weeks).

Aims: To monitor sequentially paracetamol effects on the blood pressure and brain tissue oxygenation in the infants participating the trial.

Methods: In a double-blind trial, intravenous paracetamol or placebo was infused to 48 very premature infants starting within 24 h of birth for four days.

Craniofacial Asymmetry from One to Three Years of Age: A Prospective Cohort Study with 3D Imaging.

Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) is considered a risk factor for facial asymmetry. This cohort-based, prospective, follow-up study used three-dimensional (3D) stereophotogrammetry to assess the development of facial asymmetry in a normal birth cohort and to investigate the impact of DP on facial asymmetry for the age range of one to three years. The study sample consisted of 75 children: 35 girls (47%) and 40 (53%) boys recruited from Oulu University Hospital.

Plagiocephaly after Neonatal Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip at School Age.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) may require early abduction treatment with infants sleeping on their back for the first few months of life. As sleeping on back is known to cause deformational plagiocephaly, we assessed school age children treated for dislocation or subluxation of the hip-joint in infancy. Plagiocephaly was analyzed by using cephalic index (CI) and oblique cranial length ratio (OCLR) as anthropometric measurements from 2D digital vertex view photographs.

A 3D Follow-Up Study of Cranial Asymmetry from Early Infancy to Toddler Age after Preterm versus Term Birth.

Preterm infants are at higher risk for both symmetrical and asymmetrical head molding. This study involved 3D stereophotogrammetry to assess the cranial growth, molding, and incidence of deformational plagiocephaly (DP) in preterm children compared to term born children. Thirty-four preterm infants and 34 term born controls were enrolled in this study from Oulu University Hospital, Finland.

Very early introduction of semisolid foods in preterm infants does not increase food allergies or atopic dermatitis.

Background: The optimal age for the introduction of solid foods for infants has long been a controversial issue.

Objective: To determine whether the early introduction of semisolid foods influences the incidence of food allergy or atopic dermatitis among preterm infants.

Methods: Retrospective data from 464 preterm infants born in Oulu University Hospital between 2008 and 2012 were analyzed.

Accuracy of measurements used to quantify cranial asymmetry in deformational plagiocephaly.

Objective: Various measurements are used to quantify cranial asymmetry in deformational plagiocephaly (DP), but studies validating cut-off values and comparing the accuracy of such measurements are lacking. In this study, we compared the accuracy of four different measurements in classifying children with and without DP diagnosed by visual assessment, and sought to determine their optimal cut-off values.

Study Design: Two experts rated 407 3D craniofacial images of children aged between 3 and 36 months old using the Argenta classification.

Event-Related Potentials Reflect Deficits in Lexical Access: The N200 in Prematurely Born School-Aged Children.

Objectives: Children born preterm have a high prevalence of neurocognitive deficits early in life. We examined whether the neural correlates of lexical access are atypical in 9-year-old children born preterm, and whether the findings of acoustic mapping correlate with language- and attention-related skills.

Patients And Methods: The subjects were fourteen 9-year-old children born preterm and 14 full-term, typically developing controls.

The course of positional cranial deformation from 3 to 12 months of age and associated risk factors: a follow-up with 3D imaging.

Deformational plagiocephaly is reported in up to 46.6 % of healthy infants, with the highest point prevalence at around 3 months of age. Few prospective studies on the natural course of skull deformation have been conducted, and we know of no studies using 3D imaging starting from the highest point prevalence period.

Paracetamol Accelerates Closure of the Ductus Arteriosus after Premature Birth: A Randomized Trial.

Objective: To study the biologic effect of paracetamol, an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthase, on early closure of ductus arteriosus, and to evaluate possible adverse effects associated with the drug.

Study Design: In a controlled, double-blind, phase I-II trial, very low gestational age (<32 weeks) infants requiring intensive care were randomly assigned to intravenous paracetamol or placebo (0.45% NaCl).

Preventing deformational plagiocephaly through parent guidance: a randomized, controlled trial.

Unlabelled: Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) occurs frequently in otherwise healthy infants. Many infants with DP undergo physiotherapy or helmet therapy, and ample treatment-related research is available. However, the possibility of preventing DP has been left with little attention.

Cranial shape, size and cervical motion in normal newborns.

Background: Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) and torticollis are commonly seen in infants and they often co-occur, but little is known of the prevalence and relationship of these conditions in the immediate newborn period. No previous studies focusing on the relationship between cranial shape and cervical motion in newborns can be found.

Objectives: Determining the incidence rates and characteristics of DP and torticollis and examining the relationship between cervical range of motion (ROM), cranial size and cranial shape in neonates.

Occlusal asymmetries in children with congenital hip dislocation.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) has been associated with other congenital postural deformities and associated with asymmetric features in the body. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between developmental DDH and malocclusions in preschool and school children. The subjects were 60 children (40 girls and 20 boys) born during 1997-2001 in Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District and having developmental DDH and treated by Von Rosen method.

Is prematurity associated with adult cognitive outcome and brain structure?

Previous studies have indicated that preterm birth and low birth weight are associated with structural brain abnormalities and neurocognitive deficits in childhood and adolescence, although very few studies have included follow-up in adulthood. Here we assessed the effect of preterm delivery (524 subjects; mean 34.6 weeks, S.

3-D analysis of facial asymmetry in children with hip dysplasia.

Objective: To determine whether facial asymmetry existed in patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH).

Materials And Methods: Subjects consisted of children between ages 5 and 10 years having DDH, and treated by the Von Rosen splint method. Three-dimensional (3-D) facial photographs were taken on all subjects using the 3dMDface system.

Wheezing illness and re-hospitalization in the first two years of life after neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.

Objectives: To determine the impact of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) on wheezing illnesses and re-hospitalizations in children as old as 2 years of age.

Study Design: We observed 2 geographically defined cohorts of children with RDS born after 26 weeks of gestation during 1990 to 1995 and 1996 to 1999 and gestationally paired control subjects. Recurrent wheezing illness and the re-hospitalizations caused by a respiratory condition were recorded.

Neurophysiologic correlates of deficient phonological representations and object naming in prematurely born children.

Objective: The aim of this follow-up study was to evaluate the development of object naming ability and auditory processing in prematurely born children. Furthermore, we investigated whether the mismatch negativity (MMN) parameters at the age of 4 years correlate with the MMN parameters and naming ability at the age of 6 years.

Methods: Twelve very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm children (mean age 5 years 7 months) and matched controls were studied.

Deficient speech-sound processing, as shown by the electrophysiologic brain mismatch negativity response, and naming ability in prematurely born children.

Very low birth weight (VLBW, <1500 g) preterm birth has been associated with anatomic abnormalities in brain development and cognitive and language disorders. We examined object naming ability, and an electrophysiologic index of auditory sensory discrimination of speech sounds (the mismatch negativity, MMN) in 4-year-old VLBW prematurely born children. We found that half of the VLBW children were inferior to their controls in the object naming ability.