Project Initiate: A Clinical Feasibility Trial of Equitable Access to Early Neurodevelopmental Therapy.

Despite evidence of the effectiveness of early intervention (EI) programs, eligible infants often experience delays in initiation of services or fail to receive services entirely. Disparities have been documented, including lower enrollment rates for infants with public insurance. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility of initiating home physical therapy (PT) services promptly after neonatal or cardiac intensive care unit (NICU/CICU) discharge for infants with public insurance and to assess early motor outcomes for children who received study therapy compared with a standard of care group.

Motor proficiency in school-aged children with CHD.

Objectives: To evaluate the motor proficiency, identify risk factors for abnormal motor scores, and examine the relationship between motor proficiency and health-related quality of life in school-aged patients with CHD.

Study Design: Patients ≥ 4 years old referred to the cardiac neurodevelopmental program between June 2017 and April 2020 were included. Motor skills were evaluated by therapist-administered and parent-reported and questionnaires.

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial to evaluate a year-long (NICU-to-home) evidence-based, high dose physical therapy intervention in infants at risk of neuromotor delay.

Introduction: Developmental disabilities and neuromotor delay adversely affect long-term neuromuscular function and quality of life. Current evidence suggests that early therapeutic intervention reduces the severity of motor delay by harnessing neuroplastic potential during infancy. To date, most early therapeutic intervention trials are of limited duration and do not begin soon after birth and thus do not take full advantage of early neuroplasticity.

Outcomes of Preterm Infants: Shifting Focus, Extending the View.

Advances in perinatal care have led to remarkable long-term survival for infants who are born preterm. This article reviews the broader context of follow-up care, highlighting the need to reenvision some areas, such as improving parental support by embedding parental involvement in the neonatal intensive care unit, incorporating parental perspectives about outcomes into follow-up care models and research, supporting their mental health, addressing social determinants of health and disparities, and advocating for change. Multicenter quality improvement networks allow identification and implementation of best practices for follow-up care.

Postnatal Growth Trajectories and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Following Bevacizumab Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Purpose: To investigate the postnatal growth and neurodevelopment of infants with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) treated with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB).

Patients And Methods: This was a retrospective comparative study. A total of 262 infants were divided among three study groups: 22 treated with intravitreal bevacizumab, 55 treated with laser, and 185 with ROP that resolved without treatment.

Differential Gene Expression in Cord Blood of Infants Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Analysis of the Beneficial Effects of Antenatal Magnesium Cohort.

The Beneficial Effects of Antenatal Magnesium clinical trial was conducted between 1997 and 2007, and demonstrated a significant reduction in cerebral palsy (CP) in preterm infants who were exposed to peripartum magnesium sulfate (MgSO4). However, the mechanism by which MgSO4 confers neuroprotection remains incompletely understood. Cord blood samples from this study were interrogated during an era when next-generation sequencing was not widely accessible and few gene expression differences or biomarkers were identified between treatment groups.

Ventriculomegaly thresholds for prediction of symptomatic post-hemorrhagic ventricular dilatation in preterm infants.

Background: Benefits from early surgical intervention in preterm infants with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) prior to symptomatic ventriculomegaly must be weighed against risks of surgery. We calculated thresholds of common ventriculomegaly indices at a late-intervention institution to predict subsequent symptomatic ventriculomegaly requiring neurosurgery.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed neuroimaging and neurosurgical outcomes in preterm infants with grade III/IV IVH between 2007 and 2020.

Degree of ventriculomegaly predicts school-aged functional outcomes in preterm infants with intraventricular hemorrhage.

Background: Greater ventriculomegaly in preterm infants with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) has been associated with worse neurodevelopmental outcomes in infancy. We aim to explore the relationship between ventriculomegaly and school-age functional outcome.

Methods: Retrospective review of preterm infants with Grade III/IV IVH from 2006 to 2020.

Neonatal Mortality After Interhospital Transfer of Pregnant Women for Imminent Very Preterm Birth in Illinois.

Importance: Reducing neonatal mortality is a national health care priority. Understanding the association between neonatal mortality and antenatal transfer of pregnant women to a level III perinatal hospital for delivery of infants who are very preterm (VPT) may help identify opportunities for improvement.

Objective: To assess whether antenatal transfer to a level III hospital is associated with neonatal mortality in infants who are VPT.

Cerebral Palsy: Early Markers of Clinical Phenotype and Functional Outcome.

The Prechtl General Movement Assessment (GMA) has become a cornerstone assessment in early identification of cerebral palsy (CP), particularly during the fidgety movement period at 3-5 months of age. Additionally, assessment of motor repertoire, such as antigravity movements and postural patterns, which form the Motor Optimality Score (MOS), may provide insight into an infant's later motor function. This study aimed to identify early specific markers for ambulation, gross motor function (using the Gross Motor Function Classification System, GMFCS), topography (unilateral, bilateral), and type (spastic, dyskinetic, ataxic, and hypotonic) of CP in a large worldwide cohort of 468 infants.