Salivary cortisol is not associated with dexamethasone response in preterm infants with evolving bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Objective: Short-term treatment efficacy of systemic dexamethasone (DEX) in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is highly variable. Our objective was to assess if salivary cortisol may serve as a reliable biomarker of steroid response.

Study Design: Multi-site prospective observational cohort study.

Surgical Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Spontaneous Intestinal Perforation Lead to Severe Growth Failure in Infants.

Objective: We aimed to determine the incidence of growth failure in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) and whether initial laparotomy versus peritoneal drainage (PD) impacted the likelihood of growth failure.

Summary Background Data: Infants with surgical NEC and SIP have high mortality, and most have neurodevelopmental impairment and poor growth. Existing literature on growth outcomes for these infants is limited.

Surfactant treatment at birth in a contemporary cohort of preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Objective: Initial surfactant studies demonstrated improvements in survival and need for respiratory support. However, as the use of non-invasive respiratory support has increased the use of surfactant has decreased. We examined in a contemporary cohort of BPD patients if surfactant use was associated with BPD severity.

Transpyloric feeding is associated with adverse in-hospital outcomes in infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Objective: To estimate the association of transpyloric feeding (TPF) with the composite outcome of tracheostomy or death for patients with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD).

Study Design: Retrospective multi-center cohort study of preterm infants <32 weeks with sBPD receiving enteral feedings. We compared infants who received TPF at 36, 44, or 50 weeks post-menstrual age to those who did not receive TPF at any of those timepoints.

Exploring the Association of Male Sex With Adverse Outcomes in Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: A Retrospective, Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a significant contributor to morbidity and death in infants who are born premature. Male sex is an independent risk factor for the development of BPD. However, whether male sex is associated with adverse outcomes that occur after formal diagnosis of severe BPD prior to hospital discharge remains unclear.

Outcomes of infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia who received tracheostomy and home ventilation.

Objective: To describe the survival rate, timing of liberation from the ventilator, and factors favorable for decannulation among infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD) who received tracheostomy.

Methods: Demographics and clinical outcomes were obtained through retrospective chart review of 98 infants with sBPD who were born between 2004 and 2017, received tracheostomy at <1 year of age, and were followed in the Infant Tracheostomy and Home Ventilator clinic up to 4 years of age.

Results: The number of infants with sBPD who received tracheostomy increased significantly over the study period.

Pharmacometabolomics Profiling of Preterm Infants Validates Patterns of Metabolism Associated With Response to Dexamethasone Treatment for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is one of the most common health complications of premature birth. Corticosteroids are commonly used for treatment of BPD, but their use is challenging due to variability in treatment response. Previous pharmacometabolomics study has established patterns of metabolite levels with response to dexamethasone.

Chronic lung disease in full-term infants: Characteristics and neonatal intensive care outcomes in infants referred to children's hospitals.

Objective: To describe characteristics, outcomes, and risk factors for death or tracheostomy with home mechanical ventilation in full-term infants with chronic lung disease (CLD) admitted to regional neonatal intensive care units.

Study Design: This was a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of infants born ≥37 weeks of gestation in the Children's Hospitals Neonatal Consortium.

Results: Out of 67,367 full-term infants admitted in 2010-2016, 4886 (7%) had CLD based on receiving respiratory support at either 28 days of life or discharge.

Corticosteroid response predicts bronchopulmonary dysplasia status at 36 weeks in preterm infants treated with dexamethasone: A pilot study.

Importance: A major barrier to therapeutic development in neonates is a lack of standardized drug response measures that can be used as clinical trial endpoints. The ability to quantify treatment response in a way that aligns with relevant downstream outcomes may be useful as a surrogate marker for new therapies, such as those for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Objective: To construct a measure of clinical response to dexamethasone that was well aligned with the incidence of severe BPD or death at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age.

Hydrocortisone to Improve Survival without Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia is a prevalent complication after extremely preterm birth. Inflammation with mechanical ventilation may contribute to its development. Whether hydrocortisone treatment after the second postnatal week can improve survival without bronchopulmonary dysplasia and without adverse neurodevelopmental effects is unknown.

Association Between Increased Seizures During Rewarming After Hypothermia for Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy and Abnormal Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 2-Year Follow-up: A Nested Multisite Cohort Study.

Importance: Compared with normothermia, hypothermia has been shown to reduce death or disability in neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy but data on seizures during rewarming and associated outcomes are scarce.

Objective: To determine whether electrographic seizures are more likely to occur during rewarming compared with the preceding period and whether they are associated with abnormal outcomes in asphyxiated neonates receiving hypothermia therapy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prespecified nested cohort study of infants enrolled in the Optimizing Cooling (OC) multicenter Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network trial from December 2011 to December 2013 with 2 years' follow-up randomized infants to either 72 hours of cooling (group A) or 120 hours (group B).

Association of time of first corticosteroid treatment with bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the time of first systemic corticosteroid initiation and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants.

Study Design: A multi-center retrospective cohort study from January 2010 to December 2016 using the Children's Hospitals Neonatal Database and Pediatric Health Information System database was conducted. The study population included preterm infants <32 weeks' gestation treated with systemic corticosteroids after 7 days of age and before 34 weeks' postmenstrual age.

Pharmacoepidemiology of Drug Exposure in Intubated and Non-Intubated Preterm Infants With Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are commonly treated with off-label drugs due to lack of approved therapies. To prioritize drugs for rigorous efficacy and safety testing, it is important to describe exposure patterns in this population. Our objective was to compare rates of drug exposure between preterm infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia based on respiratory support status at or beyond 36 weeks post-menstrual age.

A comparison of newer classifications of bronchopulmonary dysplasia: findings from the Children's Hospitals Neonatal Consortium Severe BPD Group.

Objective: To compare three bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) definitions against hospital outcomes in a referral-based population.

Study Design: Data from the Children's Hospitals Neonatal Consortium were classified by 2018 NICHD, 2019 NRN, and Canadian Neonatal Network (CNN) BPD definitions. Multivariable models evaluated the associations between BPD severity and death, tracheostomy, or length of stay, relative to No BPD references.

Qualitative indications for tracheostomy and chronic mechanical ventilation in patients with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background: The decision to pursue chronic mechanical ventilation involves a complex mix of clinical and social considerations. Understanding the medical indications to pursue tracheostomy would reduce the ambiguity for both providers and families and facilitate focus on appropriate clinical goals.

Objective: To describe potential indications to pursue tracheostomy and chronic mechanical ventilation in infants with severe BPD (sBPD).

Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist in neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Objective: To measure short-term outcomes of neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) while on Neurally Adjusted Ventilator Assist (NAVA), and to measure the impact of a congenitally abnormal diaphragm on NAVA ventilator indices.

Study Design: First, we conducted a retrospective-cohort analysis of 16 neonates with CDH placed on NAVA over a treatment period of 72 h. Second, we performed a case-control study comparing NAVA level and Edi between neonates with CDH and those without CDH.

Effectiveness and safety of repeat dexamethasone for bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Objective: To describe effectiveness of repeat dexamethasone for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and to evaluate adverse effects on growth.

Study Design: Retrospective study of infants treated with 1 or 2 courses of dexamethasone for BPD. Effectiveness was defined as successful step-down in respiratory support by end of treatment.

Invasive mechanical ventilation at 36 weeks post-menstrual age, adverse outcomes with a comparison of recent definitions of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Objectives: To determine whether the need for invasive mechanical ventilation (iMV) at 36 weeks PMA in patients with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD) identifies those patients at highest risk for tracheostomy or gastrostomy, and to compare sBPD with recent definitions of BPD.

Study Design: Observational study from Jan 2015 to Sept 2019 using data from the BPD Collaborative Registry.

Results: Five hundred and sixty-four patients with sBPD of whom 24% were on iMV at 36 weeks PMA.

A multidisciplinary chronic lung disease team in a neonatal intensive care unit is associated with increased survival to discharge of infants with tracheostomy.

Objective: To determine if multidisciplinary team-based care of severe BPD/CLD infants improve survival to discharge.

Design/methods: Retrospective review of severe BPD/CLD infants cared for by dedicated multidisciplinary CLD team using consensus-driven protocols and guidelines.

Results: Total of 267 patients.

Higher or Lower Hemoglobin Transfusion Thresholds for Preterm Infants.

Background: Limited data suggest that higher hemoglobin thresholds for red-cell transfusions may reduce the risk of cognitive delay among extremely-low-birth-weight infants with anemia.

Methods: We performed an open, multicenter trial in which infants with a birth weight of 1000 g or less and a gestational age between 22 weeks 0 days and 28 weeks 6 days were randomly assigned within 48 hours after delivery to receive red-cell transfusions at higher or lower hemoglobin thresholds until 36 weeks of postmenstrual age or discharge, whichever occurred first. The primary outcome was a composite of death or neurodevelopmental impairment (cognitive delay, cerebral palsy, or hearing or vision loss) at 22 to 26 months of age, corrected for prematurity.

Limitations of Conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a Predictor of Death or Disability Following Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy in the Late Hypothermia Trial.

Objective: To investigate if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an accurate predictor for death or moderate-severe disability at 18-22 months of age among infants with neonatal encephalopathy in a trial of cooling initiated at 6-24 hours.

Study Design: Subgroup analysis of infants ≥36 weeks of gestation with moderate-severe neonatal encephalopathy randomized at 6-24 postnatal hours to hypothermia or usual care in a multicenter trial of late hypothermia. MRI scans were performed per each center's practice and interpreted by 2 central readers using the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development injury score (6 levels, normal to hemispheric devastation).

Pharmacologic Management of Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Few medications are available and well tested to treat infants who already have developed or inevitably will develop severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD). Infants who develop sBPD clearly have not benefited from decades of research efforts to identify clinically meaningful preventive therapies for very preterm infants in the first days and weeks of their postnatal lives. This review addresses challenges to individualized approaches to medication use for sBPD.