NeoVault: empowering neonatal research through a neonate data hub.

Background: Stability during early postnatal life in preterm infants is related to better outcomes. Although vital signs are monitored continuously in Neonatal Intensive Care Unites, this monitoring does not include all physiological parameters nor data such as movement patterns. Although there are scattered sources of data, there is no centralized data hub for neonates information.

MGA-Net: A novel mask-guided attention neural network for precision neonatal brain imaging.

In this study, we introduce MGA-Net, a novel mask-guided attention neural network, which extends the U-net model for precision neonatal brain imaging. MGA-Net is designed to extract the brain from other structures and reconstruct high-quality brain images. The network employs a common encoder and two decoders: one for brain mask extraction and the other for brain region reconstruction.

Thalamic volume in very preterm infants: associations with severe brain injury and neurodevelopmental outcome at two years.

Introduction: Several studies demonstrate the relationship between preterm birth and a reduced thalamus volume at term-equivalent age. In contrast, this study aims to investigate the link between the thalamic growth trajectory during the early postnatal period and neurodevelopment at two years of age.

Methods: Thalamic volume was extracted from 84 early MRI scans at postmenstrual age of 32.

Effect of Cerebral Oximetry-Guided Treatment on Brain Injury in Preterm Infants as Assessed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging at Term Equivalent Age: An Ancillary SafeBoosC-III Study.

Introduction: The SafeBoosC-III trial investigated the effect of cerebral oximetry-guided treatment in the first 72 h after birth on mortality and severe brain injury diagnosed by cranial ultrasound in extremely preterm infants (EPIs). This ancillary study evaluated the effect of cerebral oximetry on global brain injury as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at term equivalent age (TEA).

Methods: MRI scans were obtained between 36 and 44.

Enhanced Spatial Fuzzy C-Means Algorithm for Brain Tissue Segmentation in T1 Images.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) plays an important role in neurology, particularly in the precise segmentation of brain tissues. Accurate segmentation is crucial for diagnosing brain injuries and neurodegenerative conditions. We introduce an Enhanced Spatial Fuzzy C-means (esFCM) algorithm for 3D T1 MRI segmentation to three tissues, i.

Corpus callosum long-term biometry in very preterm children related to cognitive and motor outcomes.

Background: The corpus callosum (CC) is suggested as an indirect biomarker of white matter volume, which is often affected in preterm birth. However, diagnosing mild white matter injury is challenging.

Methods: We studied 124 children born preterm (mean age: 8.

NeoCam: An Edge-Cloud Platform for Non-Invasive Real-Time Monitoring in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

In this work we introduce NeoCam, an open source hardware-software platform for video-based monitoring of preterms infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). NeoCam includes an edge computing device that performs video acquisition and processing in real-time. Compared to other proposed solutions, it has the advantage of handling data more efficiently by performing most of the processing on the device, including proper anonymisation for better compliance with privacy regulations.

A deep sift convolutional neural networks for total brain volume estimation from 3D ultrasound images.

Preterm infants are a highly vulnerable population. The total brain volume (TBV) of these infants can be accurately estimated by brain ultrasound (US) imaging which enables a longitudinal study of early brain growth during Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) admission. Automatic estimation of TBV from 3D images increases the diagnosis speed and evades the necessity for an expert to manually segment 3D images, which is a sophisticated and time consuming task.

Relationship of early brain growth pattern measured by ultrasound with neurological outcome at two years of age in very low birth weight infants.

The purpose of this study is to define the impact of early brain growth trajectory in very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) on neurological prognosis at 2 years, assessed using sequential ultrasound (US) scans. This is a prospective cohort study with consecutive inclusion of VLBWI ≤ 32 weeks gestational age and ≤ 1500 g at birth. Total brain volume (TBV) was assessed using sequential 3D-US from birth to discharge.

Ultrasonographic evaluation of the early brain growth pattern in very low birth weight infants.

Background: Preterm infants develop smaller brain volumes compared to term newborns. Our aim is to study early brain growth related to perinatal factors in very low birth weight infants (VLBWI).

Methods: Manual segmentation of total brain volume (TBV) was performed in weekly 3D-ultrasonographies in our cohort of VLBWI.

Lung ultrasound score has better diagnostic ability than NT-proBNP to predict moderate-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Unlabelled: The N-terminal end of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and lung ultrasound (LUS) score have been proven to be adequate early biomarkers of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants. Our aim was to study if the predictive capacity of each one is increased by analyzing them together. We included infants born before 32 weeks with NT-proBNP and LUS scores on the first day of life (DOL) and on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th DOL and compared the diagnostic ability for moderate-severe BPD (msBPD) of each biomarker and in combination.

Ultrasonographic Estimation of Total Brain Volume: 3D Reliability and 2D Estimation. Enabling Routine Estimation During NICU Admission in the Preterm Infant.

The aim of this study is to explore if manually segmented total brain volume (TBV) from 3D ultrasonography (US) is comparable to TBV estimated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We then wanted to test 2D based TBV estimation obtained through three linear axes which would enable monitoring brain growth in the preterm infant during admission. We included very low birth weight preterm infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with normal neuroimaging findings.

Neonatal arterial stroke location is associated with outcome at 2 years: a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping study.

Objective: In contrast to motor impairments, the association between lesion location and cognitive or language deficits in patients with neonatal arterial ischaemic stroke remains largely unknown. We conducted a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping cross-sectional study aiming to reveal neonatal arterial stroke location correlates of language, motor and cognitive outcomes at 2 years of age.

Design: Prospective observational multicentre study.

Automatic segmentation of ventricular volume by 3D ultrasonography in post haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation among preterm infants.

To train, evaluate, and validate the application of a deep learning framework in three-dimensional ultrasound (3D US) for the automatic segmentation of ventricular volume in preterm infants with post haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation (PHVD). We trained a 2D convolutional neural network (CNN) for automatic segmentation ventricular volume from 3D US of preterm infants with PHVD. The method was validated with the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and the intra-class coefficient (ICC) compared to manual segmentation.

Lung ultrasound score and diuretics in preterm infants born before 32 weeks: A pilot study.

Objective: To describe if weekly determined lung ultrasound (LU) scores in preterm infants born before 32 weeks (PTB32W) change with diuretic therapy.

Design: We included infants who received diuretics and compared LU scores according to their evolution on respiratory support (RS) before and after diuretics.

Results: We included 18 PTB32W divided into two groups.

Pleural line thickness reference values for preterm and term newborns.

Background: In lung ultrasound (LUS), the pleural line is an artifact whose thickness depends on the underlying lung pathology. To date there are no published studies on normal values of pleural line thickness (PLT) in newborns.

Objective: The aim of our study is to describe normal PLT values in term newborn (TN) and preterm newborn (PTN).

Reproducibility and reference values of diaphragmatic shortening fraction for term and premature infants.

Background: New ultrasound measurements to diagnose diaphragmatic dysfunction, including diaphragmatic shortening fraction (DSF), have been studied in adults and children, but there are no data on reference values for neonates.

Objective: To describe DSF reference values for term neonate (TN) and preterm neonate (PTN), and to calculate its reproducibility.

Methods: We included asymptomatic TN and PTN during their first 24 hours of life.

Lung ultrasound score as early predictor of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in very low birth weight infants.

Background: Lung ultrasound (LU) has been widely used to diagnose and monitor acute lung diseases in neonates, but its role in chronic diseases has not been elucidated.

Objective: We aim to describe the evolution of a lung ultrasound score (LU score) in very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) with and without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Methods: We prospectively included 59 VLBWI and performed LU in the first 24 and 72 hours of life, and then weekly until 36 weeks´ postmenstrual age (PMA).

NT-proBNP as an Early Marker of Diastolic Ventricular Dysfunction in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants.

The objective is to examine the correlation between plasma levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) echocardiographic parameters in the first 28 days of life in very-low-birth-weight infants (VLBWI). VLBWI admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Hospital Puerta del Mar, Spain, from January 2015 to January 2017 were prospectively enrolled. Weekly determination of plasma NT-proBNP (pg/mL), and echocardiograms were done during the first 28 days of life.

NT-proBNP plasma levels as biomarkers for pulmonary hypertension in healthy infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection.

To explore NT-proBNP as biomarker for pulmonary hypertension (PH) in infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSVI). We prospectively enrolled 93 healthy infants with RSVI aged 1-12 months. NT-proBNP determination and echocardiography were performed at admission.

Ischemic stroke caused by arterial dissection of the internal carotid artery diagnosed by Doppler sonography in a newborn.

Internal carotid arterial dissection is a rare and probably underestimated cause of neonatal stroke. We report a case of neonatal stroke underscoring the role of Doppler sonography of the intracranial arteries for the diagnosis and follow-up tool.

Late stillbirth due to listeriosis.

Listeriosis is a sporadic infectious disease, which affects high-risk populations, such as the elderly, pregnant women, newborns, and immunocompromised patients. During pregnancy, listeriosis usually presents like a mild non-specific infection, but it may be responsible for fetal loss, preterm labor, early onset neonatal sepsis, and neonatal death. We report the case of a late stillbirth secondary to maternal chorioamnionitis.

Broad spectrum antibiotics in newborns increase multi-drug resistant infections.

Our objective was to determine if broad spectrum antibiotics (BSA) are associated with multi-resistant bacterial (MRB) infections in neonatal patients. We conducted a case-control study with two groups of patients: those with and without a MRB infection. We included 43 cases and 43 controls.