Placental Transfusion, Timing of Plastic Wrap or Bag Placement, and Preterm Neonates.

Objective: Compare delivery room practices and outcomes of infants born at less than 32 weeks' gestation or less than 1,500 g who have plastic wrap/bag placement simultaneously during placental transfusion to those receiving plastic wrap/bag placement sequentially following placental transfusion.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of data from a multisite quality improvement initiative to refine stabilization procedures pertaining to placental transfusion and thermoregulation using a plastic wrap/bag. Delivery room practices and outcome data in 590 total cases receiving placental transfusion were controlled for propensity score matching and hospital of birth.

Incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections in neonates following removal of peripherally inserted central venous catheters.

Objectives: Catheter-associated bloodstream infections are a significant source of morbidity and healthcare cost in the neonatal ICU. Previous studies examining the prevalence of bloodstream infections after removal of peripherally inserted central venous catheters in neonates are equivocal.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Anti-eosinophil activity and clinical efficacy of the CRTH2 antagonist OC000459 in eosinophilic esophagitis.

Background: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, Th2-type inflammatory disease. Chemoattractant receptor-homologous molecule on Th2 cells (CRTH2) is a prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)) receptor, expressed by Th2 cells and other inflammatory cells, including eosinophils and basophils, that mediates chemotaxis and activation. OC000459 is a selective CRTH2 antagonist and would be expected to suppress eosinophilic tissue inflammation.

Eosinophil extracellular DNA traps in skin diseases.

Background: In the skin, eosinophils are found in a broad spectrum of diseases, including infectious diseases.

Objective: In this study, we investigated whether eosinophil extracellular traps, structures containing DNA in association with eosinophil granule proteins able to bind and kill bacteria, are present in the skin under various pathologic conditions.

Methods: Immunofluorescence staining was performed on sections of paraformaldehyde-fixed and paraffin-embedded skin biopsy tissues of 25 different eosinophilic skin diseases by using propidium iodide and an antibody to eosinophil cationic protein.

Endothelial colony-forming cells and mesenchymal stem cells from ECMO circuits of term infants.

Objective: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been examined in numerous adult diseases and have been suggested as a cellular-based therapy. However, there are no reports describing EPCs being isolated from newborn peripheral blood.

Study Design: Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), a subtype of EPCs, were isolated from blood collected from 12 neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuits.