Faster Gastric Emptying Is Unrelated to Feeding Success in Preterm Infants: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between gastric emptying (GE) time and days to achievement of full enteral feeding (≥140 mL/kg/day) in preterm infants randomly assigned to receive one of two marketed study formulas for the first 14 feeding days: intact protein premature formula (IPF) or extensively hydrolyzed protein (EHF) formula.

Methods: In this triple-blind, controlled, prospective, clinical trial, we report GE time (time to half-emptying, t) by real-time ultrasonography on Study Day 14, in preterm infants receiving IPF or EHF formula. The association between GE time and achievement of full enteral feeding was evaluated by Pearson correlation.

Candidemia in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective, Observational Survey and Analysis of Literature Data.

We evaluated the epidemiology of bloodstream infections in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of an Italian university hospital during a 9-year period as a means of quantifying the burden of infection and identifying emerging trends. Clinical data were searched for in the microbiological laboratory database. For comparative purposes, we performed a review of NICU candidemia.

Epidemiology of candidemia in neonatal intensive care units: a persistent public health problem.

Background: Candidemia has become an increasingly important problem in infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). Candida species are the third most common agents of late-onset infections in critically ill neonates and they are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. In this study we evaluated the epidemiology of Candida bloodstream infections in the NICU of an Italian university hospital during a 15-year period.

Bloodstream infections by Malassezia and Candida species in critical care patients.

Despite being considered an emerging yeast related to immunocompromised individuals, severe infections by Malassezia furfur have not been evaluated. During a one-year survey on yeasts fungemia, 290 neonatal and 17 pediatric patients with intravascular catheters, lipid parenteral nutrition, prolonged ward stay, and surgery were enrolled. In addition, the origin of the infection was investigated by swabbing hand skin of patients, parents, and healthcare workers and medical devices.

The role of procalcitonin in neonatal intensive care unit patients with candidemia.

Candidemia is a major infectious complication in neonatal patients. The isolation of yeasts from blood is still the "gold standard" for its diagnosis, but other laboratory markers (i.e.