Quantifying Additional Procedures in Functionally Single-Ventricle Disease: A National Cohort Study.

Background: Given their importance as a metric for health care evaluation, this study's aim was to evaluate the rates of surgical and catheter reinterventions for children with functionally single-ventricle (f-SV) congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing staged palliation.

Methods: We undertook a retrospective cohort study of children born with f-SV CHD between 2000 and 2018 in England and Wales, using the national registry, with survival ascertained in 2020. Competing risk analysis was used to describe the incidence of additional procedures that occurred first, during follow-up, accounting for competing events of death or transplantation.

Understanding the Scale and Nature of Parent/Guardian Telephone Calls to a Tertiary Children's Cardiac Centre: A Service Evaluation.

Heart defects are the second most common congenital anomaly in babies born in the UK and standards state families should have access to a children's cardiac nurse specialist telephone advice service. However, there is little published information to describe the nature of calls and the workload associated with telephone support. We conducted a prospective service evaluation of telephone calls received at one UK specialist children's cardiac surgical center from parents/carers (April-June 2019).

The effects of handling on stress response markers in a reef fish model for aquaculture development, the brassy chub, Kyphosus vaigiensis.

With the expanding global population, interest has increased in the sustainable aquaculture development of indigenous fishes. In Hawai'i, the brassy chub, Kyphosus vaigiensis, has drawn interest as a candidate species for production. However, little is known about its resilience in aquaculture settings where fish are exposed to acute, husbandry-related stressors.

Child mortality in Eastern Ethiopia: acceptability of Postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling in a predominantly muslim community.

Background: It is crucial to consider cultural, religious, and socio-behavioural factors that may influence the acceptability of Minimally Invasive Tissues Sampling (MITS). MITS is being used to understand the causes of child death and conducted in nine countries within Africa and South Asia with the highest child mortality. Progress has been made in the development of laboratory infrastructures and training for physicians to do MITS, but many communities are concerned about the religious acceptability of taking samples from deceased children.

Genomic epidemiology and longitudinal sampling of ward wastewater environments and patients reveals complexity of the transmission dynamics of -carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in a hospital setting.

Background: Healthcare-associated wastewater and asymptomatic patient reservoirs colonized by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) contribute to nosocomial CPE dissemination, but the characteristics and dynamics of this remain unclear.

Methods: We systematically sampled wastewater sites ( = 4488 samples; 349 sites) and patients ( = 1247) across six wards over 6-12 months to understand bla-associated CPE (KPC-E) diversity within these reservoirs and transmission in a healthcare setting. Up to five KPC-E-positive isolates per sample were sequenced (Illumina).

Burden, causes, and risk factors of perinatal mortality in Eastern Africa: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Although global mortality rates in children under 5 years have decreased substantially in the last 30 years, there remain around 2.6 million stillbirths and 2.9 million neonatal deaths each year.

Retrospective Cohort Study of Additional Procedures and Transplant-Free Survival for Patients With Functionally Single Ventricle Disease Undergoing Staged Palliation in England and Wales.

Background: Reinterventions may influence the outcomes of children with functionally single-ventricle (f-SV) congenital heart disease.

Methods And Results: We undertook a retrospective cohort study of children starting treatment for f-SV between 2000 and 2018 in England, using the national procedure registry. Patients were categorized based on whether they survived free of transplant beyond 1 year of age.

The incremental yield of prenatal exome sequencing over chromosome microarray for congenital heart abnormalities: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To determine the incremental yield of prenatal exome sequencing (PES) over standard testing in fetuses with an isolated congenital heart abnormality (CHA), CHA associated with extra-cardiac malformations (ECMs) and CHA dependent upon anatomical subclassification.

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and grey literature January 2010-February 2023. Studies were selected if they included greater than 20 cases of prenatally diagnosed CHA when standard testing (QF-PCR/chromosome microarray/karyotype) was negative.

Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries in Utero: Morphological Spectrum, Outcomes and Pitfalls in Fetal Diagnosis.

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (ccTGA) is a rare malformation with diverse morphology. We assessed features of fetuses with ccTGA and evaluated neonatal and pediatric outcomes. This was a retrospective review of fetuses with ccTGA at Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital born from 2005 to 2019.

Evaluation of healthcare professionals' experiences of taking telephone calls from parents of children with congenital heart disease. A risky business.

The Congenital Heart Disease Standards for England indicate that parents and children should have access to a 24-h telephone advice service, however, little is known about existing services. This paper presents phase two of a mixed-methods service evaluation, which aimed to evaluate staff experiences of telephone communication with these parents. All nursing and support staff in a single specialist children's cardiac surgical centre were invited to participate in an online survey during July-November 2019.

Fetal single ventricle journey to first postnatal procedure: a multicentre UK cohort study.

Objectives: UK single ventricle (SV) palliation outcomes after first postnatal procedure (FPP) are well documented. However, survival determinants from fetal diagnosis to FPP are lacking. To better inform parental-fetal counselling, we examined factors favouring survival at two large UK centres.

Model-based evaluation of admission screening strategies for the detection and control of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in the English hospital setting.

Background: Globally, detections of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) colonisations and infections are increasing. The spread of these highly resistant bacteria poses a serious threat to public health. However, understanding of CPE transmission and evidence on effectiveness of control measures is severely lacking.

Biallelic loss of function variants are associated with a lethal perinatal-onset biventricular dilated cardiomyopathy with excessive trabeculations and ventricular septal defects.

Homozygous plakophilin-2 () variants have been identified as a cause of a lethal form of dilated cardiomyopathy with excessive trabeculations (DCM-ET) in three cases. We report three more cases from two families with homozygous pathogenic variants and perinatal-onset, lethal DCM-ET. Identification of the genetic abnormalities played a key role in decision-making and family counselling in these cases.

A Feasibility Study of the SAFE Pilot Program: A University-School Board Partnership in Ontario.

The Support and Aid to Families Electronically (SAFE) pilot program was developed through a community-university partnership to support parents of elementary students in Ontario, while providing stable practicums for social work students in the midst of COVID-19 restrictions. The aim of the current study was to examine the feasibility of the SAFE pilot program as a mental health support to families by examining three feasibility objectives: demand, acceptably, and implementation. Qualitative data from interviews, focus groups, and qualitative surveys involving service users, social work students, referring school board and university professionals ( = 37) were examined.

Temperature modulates the osmosensitivity of tilapia prolactin cells.

In euryhaline fish, prolactin (Prl) plays an essential role in freshwater (FW) acclimation. In the euryhaline and eurythermal Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, Prl cells are model osmoreceptors, recently described to be thermosensitive. To investigate the effects of temperature on osmoreception, we incubated Prl cells of tilapia acclimated to either FW or seawater (SW) in different combinations of temperatures (20, 26 and 32 °C) and osmolalities (280, 330 and 420 mOsm/kg) for 6 h.

Early-onset group B streptococcal disease in African countries and maternal vaccination strategies.

Invasive group B streptococcal (GBS) disease is the commonest perinatally-acquired bacterial infection in newborns; the burden is higher in African countries where intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis strategies are not feasible. In sub-Saharan Africa, almost one in four newborns with GBS early-onset disease will demise, and one in ten survivors have moderate or severe neurodevelopmental impairment. A maternal GBS vaccine to prevent invasive GBS disease in infancy is a pragmatic and cost-effective preventative strategy for Africa.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of maternal vaccination against Group B streptococcus in Japan.

Background: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading pathogen causing life-threatening bacterial infections in neonates (early- or late-onset) and infants, and is associated with preterm and stillbirth. Japan introduced national guidelines to reduce early-onset neonatal GBS disease, with universal prenatal screening and intrapartum antimicrobial prophylaxis (IAP). However, screening/IAP does not prevent GBS associated late-onset disease, preterm or stillbirth.

Role of viral suppression in HIV treatment and prevention and its potential in addressing harmful laws and discrimination.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) global public health mandate includes a focus on expanding access to HIV testing, antiretroviral therapy (ART) and treatment monitoring to improve the clinical management of HIV, achieve sustained viral suppression, and prevent HIV-related incidence, morbidity, and mortality. This article documents key moments in research and WHO policies that have informed how ART is applied within HIV programs, including as a prevention tool with the potential to support efforts to address HIV-related discrimination. For more than 20years, WHO has promoted the benefits of HIV treatment including as part of the approach to prevent the mother-to-child transmission (vertical transmission) of HIV.

Changes in cortisol and corticosteroid receptors during dynamic salinity challenges in Mozambique tilapia.

In estuarine environments, euryhaline fish maintain a narrow range of internal osmolality despite daily changes in environmental salinity that can range from fresh water (FW) to seawater (SW). The capacity of euryhaline fish to maintain homeostasis in a range of environmental salinities is primarily facilitated by the neuroendocrine system. One such system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis, culminates in the release of corticosteroids such as cortisol into circulation.

Causes of stillbirth and death among children younger than 5 years in eastern Hararghe, Ethiopia: a population-based post-mortem study.

Background: Child mortality is high in Ethiopia, but reliable data on the causes of death are scarce. We aimed to gather data for the contributory causes of stillbirth and child deaths in eastern Ethiopia.

Methods: In this population-based post-mortem study, we established a death-notification system in health facilities and in the community in Kersa (rural), Haramaya (rural) and Harar (urban) in eastern Ethiopia, at a new site of the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network.

Medium-term Outcome of Prenatally Diagnosed Hypoplastic Left-Heart Syndrome and Impact of a Restrictive Atrial Septum Diagnosed in-utero.

Objective: Surgical outcome data differs from overall outcomes of prenatally diagnosed fetuses with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Our aim was to describe outcome of prenatally diagnosed fetuses with this anomaly.

Methods: Retrospective review of prenatally diagnosed classical HLHS at a tertiary hospital over a 13-year period, estimated due dates 01/08/2006 to 31/12/2019.