Hypothermia Plus Melatonin in Asphyctic Newborns: A Randomized-Controlled Pilot Study.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of adding melatonin to hypothermia treatment on neurodevelopmental outcomes in asphyctic newborns.

Design: Pilot multicenter, randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial. Statistical comparison of results obtained in two intervention arms: hypothermia plus placebo and hypothermia plus melatonin.

Validation of a Portable Coagulometer for Routine In-Hospital Use for Newborns.

Objectives: To verify the reliability and clinical benefits of the coagulation tests made by a point of care device in newborn admitted to a neonatal unit.

Design: We made a statistical comparison between results obtained by the point of care device versus conventional laboratory analysis.

Setting: Level 3 neonatal unit.

Probiotics to prevent necrotising enterocolitis and nosocomial infection in very low birth weight preterm infants.

The aim of the study was to determine whether routine probiotic supplementation (RPS) with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) or Lactobacillus acidophilus +Lactobacillus bifidum is associated with reduced risk of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC)≥Stage II in preterm neonates born at ≤32 weeks' gestation. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on the effect of probiotic supplementation in very low birth weight infants in our neonatal unit by comparing two periods: before and after supplementation. The incidence of NEC≥Stage II, late-onset sepsis and all-cause mortality was compared for an equal period 'before' (Period I) and 'after' (Period II) RPS with LGG or L.

Nutrition in extremely low birth weight infants: impact on bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung disease that affects premature infants with multifactorial etiology. Some authors have considered malnutrition to be a major factor promoting BDP. The aim of our study was to examine the contribution of enteral and parenteral nutritional intake in the first 14 days of life to the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in a sample of preterm infants.

Prevention of syncytial respiratory virus infection with palivizumab: descriptive and comparative analysis after 12 years of use.

Background: The use of palivizumab has been recommended to prevent syncytial respiratory virus (SRV) infection in vulnerable children.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study of hospital admissions for bronchiolitis from 2000 to 2012 in the context of a prevention study with palivizumab in at-risk newborns.

Results: A total of 952 children (59.

Epidemiological factors involved in the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in very low birth-weight preterm infants.

Background: In spite of the advances made in perinatal medicine, the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) has not decreased and the aetiopathogenesis of the "new" BPD is still a matter for debate. The objectives of the present study were to analyse the epidemiological factors and morbidity associated with the development of BPD in a cohort of very low birth-weight (VLBW) preterm infants.

Methods: This retrospective observational study included all the preterm infants with birth weight ≤1500 g who were admitted to a tertiary-level hospital NICU from 2008 to 2011.

[Efficacy and safety profile of cranberry in infants and children with recurrent urinary tract infection].

Objective: Cranberry prophylaxis of recurrent urinary tract infection in infants has proven effective in the experimental model of the adult. There are few data on its efficacy, safety and recommended dose in the pediatric population.

Methods: A controlled, double-blind Phase III clinical trial was conducted on children older than 1 month of age to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cranberry in recurrent urinary tract infection.

[Nutrition and Metabolism Group of the Spanish Neonatology Society: recommendations and evidence for dietary supplementation with probiotics in very low birth weight infants].

Clinical practice guidelines are an important tool for improving healthcare. In recent years there has been accumulating evidence on the impact of nutritional supplementation with probiotics in the very low birth weight infants. With no uniformity in microorganisms and strains used.

Effectiveness of vitamin A in the prevention of complications of prematurity.

Background: To assess the effectiveness of vitamin A supplementation in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants to prevent complications of prematurity.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study to determine the effectiveness of vitamin A in preventing complications of prematurity in VLBW infants. Vitamin A was delivered intramuscularly at a dose of 5000 IU, three times weekly during the first 28 days of life.

Neuroendocrine and circadian aspects (melatonin and beta-endorphin) of atopic dermatitis in the child.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a disease of increasing incidence among paediatric patients. Among the factors involved in its pathogenesis is the alteration of the immune response, and so the objective of this study was to evaluate the involvement of certain neuroendocrine factors with immune properties in the development of the disease. Fifty-five subjects were selected and divided into the following three groups: healthy subjects, those diagnosed with symptomatic AD and those with asymptomatic AD.

Procalcitonin is not sufficiently reliable to be the sole marker of neonatal sepsis of nosocomial origin.

Background: It has recently been suggested that serum procalcitonin (PCT) is of value in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, with varying results. The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to assess the usefulness of PCT as a marker of neonatal sepsis of nosocomial origin.

Methods: One hundred infants aged between 4 and 28 days of life admitted to the Neonatology Services of 13 acute-care teaching hospitals in Spain over 1-year with clinical suspicion of neonatal sepsis of nosocomial origin were included in the study.

[Puberty and melatonin].

Background: Melatonin is the main hormone secreted by the pineal gland and secretion is maximal at night. Although researchers disagree, numerous data suggest that elevated melatonin levels during the prepubertal age maintain the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in quiescence, thus exerting an inhibitory effect on pubertal development. The decrease in serum melatonin with advancing age activates hypothalamic pulsatile secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone and consequently the reproductive axis, which results in the onset of puberty.

[Intrauterine dwarfism and dysmorfic features. A case of Russel-Silver syndrome].

Russel-Silver syndrome is characterized by severe intrauterine growth retardation and is the most characteristic intrauterine dwarfism syndrome. In addition to short stature, low birth weight and reduced postnatal growth, this syndrome is characterized by features such a relative macrocephaly, a typical craniofacial appearance, asymmetry of the body and other abnormalities. Recent studies on developmental delay in these children have shown that most require special education.

Comparison between tryptophan methoxyindole and kynurenine metabolic pathways in normal and preterm neonates and in neonates with acute fetal distress.

Objective: To analyze the kynurenine and methoxyindole metabolic pathways of tryptophan in order to identify changes in premature neonates and in neonates suffering from fetal distress.

Methods: One hundred and twelve neonates were assigned to three groups: normal neonates (control group), preterm neonates (neonates born before the 37th gestational week) and neonates suffering from fetal distress. Each of these groups was then divided in two subgroups according to the time of birth corresponding with the time of blood sampling: a diurnal subgroup, comprising neonates whose blood was sampled between 0900 and 2100 h, and a nocturnal subgroup, comprising neonates whose blood was sampled between 2100 and 0900 h.

[Plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide, vasopressin and aldosterone in the umbilical cord blood: its relation to perinatal asphyxia].

Aldosterone, vasopressin (AVP) and atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) plasmatic concentrations were determined in cord arterial blood from 42 newborns to term: 29 healthful and 13 with perinatal asphyxia. Control group showed plasmatic levels (pg/dl) AVP, aldosterone and ANF significantly lower than perinatal asphyxia newborns group (AVP: 2.27 +/- 1.

[Serum vitamin E in well-nourished and malnourished infants].

Vitamin E (tocopherol) concentrations in blood plasma were determined in 48 infants and correlated with their nutritional status. Infants were divided into two groups as following: group I (n : 12) estimated well-nourished, and group II (n : 36) appreciated undernourished. Clinical nutritional status was evaluated according to their weight, height and skinfold thickness of triceps percentiles.

[Branched-chain amino acids: indicators of fetal nutritional status].

Both nutritive state for Rohrer's ratio (Rr) and serum aminoacids (aa) (Chromatospek J-180) of the umbilical cord have been analyzed and correlated in two groups of the newborns: G-I (n: 12) preterm infants with an adequated weight for their gestational age (Re greater than 10 percentile) and G-II (n: 8) small for-date term infants (Rr less than 10 p). Ratios of the serum aa (total aa, no essential aa, NE/E, Ala/Thr, Whitehead's ratio (Wr), Ala/Leu, Ala/BCA, Gly/Val, Ser + Gly + Ala/BCA) were more elevated in G-II than those one of the G-I. We have shown a single correlation between Wr and Rr (r.