[The Outpatient Health Care Package for the very premature infant: application of the program to follow-up services for the Neonatal Intensive Care, Pediatrics Department, Università "La Sapienza" I Facoltà, Roma (June 2008-March 2010)].

Fifty-nine children were enrolled in the Outpatient Health Care Package (OHCP) from 01/06/2008 to 31/03/2010. All children, except two, attended entirely the follow-up appointments; a satisfactory result, considering also that 30% of family were living outside the urban area and more than a third of the families was originated in a foreign country. At 3 months corrected age(CA) Haemoglobin mean values of 47 infants, all in iron treatment, were: 12.

Central venous lines and how to manage them.

The importance of vascular access in neonatal clinical practice is increasing, because of the survival of a larger number of premature babies, who require administration of long-term intravenous fluids and medications than in the past. In these newborn central venous lines are preferred to peripheral lines, particularly Peripherally Inserted Central Venous Catheter (PICC). Despite of the benefits of this device, PICC complications can negatively affect morbidity and mortality of the neonate.

Nasal flow-synchronized intermittent positive pressure ventilation to facilitate weaning in very low-birthweight infants: unmasked randomized controlled trial.

Background: Nasal flow-synchronized intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NFSIPPV) is a new non-invasive ventilatory mode that delivers synchronized mechanical breaths through the nasal prongs. An unmasked, prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the efficacy of NFSIPPV and conventional nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) in increasing the likelihood for successful extubation in very low-birthweight infants.

Methods: Consecutive infants who weighed <1251 g at birth, required endotracheal intubation within 48 h of birth and met specific predetermined criteria for extubation by day 14 of life were recruited.

Pathogenesis of apparent life-threatening events in infants with esophageal atresia.

Many infants with a repaired esophageal atresia (EA) undergo fundoplication, aortopexy, or glossopexy because the mechanisms most responsible for airway obstruction and/or apparent life-threatening event (AO/ALTE) syndrome are considered to be gastroesophageal reflux (GER), tracheal compression (TC), or obstructive apnea, respectively. In the present study, we investigated whether these mechanisms are independent or interrelated. We developed a database of 120 consecutive patients with EA treated by the senior author between 1967-2002.

Neonatal Candida albicans septic thrombosis of the portal vein followed by cavernous transformation of the vessel.

We report two premature neonates with Candida albicans septic thrombosis of the portal vein who developed, in very early childhood, the sonographic appearance of cavernous transformation of the vessel and/or clinical signs of extrahepatic portal hypertension.