Cardiac biomarkers and left ventricular systolic function in former very preterm infants and term controls at preschool age.

Introduction: Due to improvements in perinatal care, survival rates of preterm infants have improved during the last decades. However, these infants remain at risk of developing cardiovascular sequelae later in life. This study aimed to investigate the cardiac biomarkers and left ventricular systolic function in former preterm infants in comparison with term controls at preschool age.

Prophylactic low-dose paracetamol for ductal closure and neurodevelopmental outcome in very preterm infants.

Aim: To investigate the direct effect of prophylactic low-dose paracetamol administration for ductal closure on neurodevelopmental outcome in very preterm infants who did not receive ibuprofen or surgical ligation for treatment of a patent ductus arteriosus.

Methods: Infants < 32 gestational weeks born 10/2014-12/2018 received prophylactic paracetamol (paracetamol group, n = 216); infants born 02/2011-09/2014 did not receive prophylactic paracetamol (control group, n = 129). Psychomotor (PDI) and mental (MDI) outcome were assessed using Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 12 and 24 months corrected age.

Early preterm infants with abnormal psychomotor neurodevelopmental outcome at age two show alterations in amplitude-integrated electroencephalography signals.

Introduction: Recent studies showed that neurodevelopment in preterm infants can be predicted by using amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG)-derived parameters. In our previous study we demonstrated that aEEG could be useful in predicting neurodevelopmental outcome in very preterm infants at the corrected age of 2 years.

Aim: The aim of this study was to further evaluate aEEG for predicting neurodevelopmental outcome at the at the corrected age of 2 years in preterm infants.

Amplitude-integrated electroencephalography shows alterations in children born preterm displaying poor literacy precursor skills.

Aim: To assess whether amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) alterations in the newborn period are associated with poor precursor skills of literacy at five years of age in children born preterm.

Methods: Between October 2007 and September 2011 248 preterm infants were eligible for the study at Innsbruck Medical University Hospital. aEEG was analysed for dominating background activity, calculation of the percentage of continuous activity, the Burdjalov scoring system, the minimum, mean and maximum amplitude.

Outcome of infants born at < 32 weeks' gestation in a single-centre level III neonatology unit - relation to feeding strategy.

Objective: This study aimed to determine survival, neonatal morbidity, and outcomes at 1 and 2 years in children who were born very preterm, and to analyse any relation to enteral feeding.

Methods: We performed a prospective, observational study on very preterm infants (range: 23-31 weeks' gestation) born at Innsbruck Medical University Hospital, Austria, between 2007 and 2014 (n = 557).

Results: The overall survival rate was 94.

Former Very Preterm Infants Show Alterations in Thyroid Function at a Preschool Age.

Preterm birth is frequently associated with altered thyroid hormone levels in the newborn period. Recent data suggest a role of prematurity independent of birth size also in childhood thyroid dysfunction. Whether the high-risk population of former very preterm infants (VPI) is particularly susceptible to thyroid hormone alterations is currently unknown.

Former very preterm infants show alterations in plasma amino acid profiles at a preschool age.

Background: Amino acid analysis is a valuable tool for cardiovascular risk assessment. Preterm infants display plasma amino acid changes in the newborn period. Whether these changes persist is unknown to date.

Amplitude-integrated electroencephalography can predict neurodevelopmental outcome at 12 months of corrected age in very preterm infants.

Aim: It is difficult to find diagnostic tools than can reliably predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in very preterm infants in clinical practice. This study evaluated whether amplitude-integrated electroencephalography predicted neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm infants when they reached 12 months of corrected age.

Methods: Between October 2007 and December 2013, we studied 232 preterm infants (51% male) at Innsbruck Medical University Hospital, Austria.

Former Very Preterm Infants Show an Unfavorable Cardiovascular Risk Profile at a Preschool Age.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Evidence points towards an unfavorable cardiovascular risk profile of former preterm infants in adolescence and adulthood. The aim of this study was to determine whether cardiovascular risk predictors are detectable in former very preterm infants at a preschool age.

Aortic Elastic Properties in Preschool Children Born Preterm.

Objective: Preterm birth predisposes children to the development of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. The aim of this study was to characterize elastic properties of the aorta at preschool age and test the hypothesis that prematurity is associated with decreased aortic distensibility and increased stiffness, both of which are predictors of increased cardiovascular risk.

Approach And Results: In an observational study of 76 five- to seven-year-old children born at a gestational age <32 weeks and 79 term-born controls, elastic parameters of the ascending and descending abdominal aorta were determined noninvasively by means of M mode echocardiographic tracings and calculated using computerized wall contour analysis.

Poor postdischarge head growth is related to a 10% lower intelligence quotient in very preterm infants at the chronological age of five years.

Aim: This study examined the relationship between head growth and cognitive outcome at the age of five years in preterm infants born at less than 32 weeks of gestation from 2003 to 2009, as previous research has mostly focused on outcomes in toddlers.

Methods: The head circumference of 273 very preterm infants born in Tyrol, Austria, was measured at birth, discharge, the corrected ages of three, 12 and 24 months and the chronological age of five years. Suboptimal head size was defined as a head circumference of more than one standard deviation below the mean.

Comparing growth charts demonstrated significant deviations between the interpretation of postnatal growth patterns in very preterm infants.

Aim: This study compared postnatal growth patterns calculated using different reference data in a large cohort of very preterm infants.

Methods: The weight, length and head circumference of 551 very preterm infants born in the Tyrol, Austria, between 2003 and 2011, were obtained at birth, discharge and the corrected ages of three, 12 and 24 months. Growth data are presented as Z-scores in relation to four reference populations: LMS growth by Pan et al.

Effect of developmental care for very premature infants on neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years of age.

Background: To determine the effect of developmental care on neurodevelopmental outcome in formerly preterm infants at a corrected age of 2 years.

Methods: A prospective phase-lag study was performed at an Austrian neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). From January 2003 to December 2005 (study period of conventional care) and January 2007 to December 2009 (study period of developmental care), we enrolled all infants born in Tyrol at less than 32 weeks of gestation.

Processing of intentional and automatic number magnitudes in children born prematurely: evidence from fMRI.

This study examined the neural correlates of intentional and automatic number processing (indexed by number comparison and physical Stroop task, respectively) in 6- and 7-year-old children born prematurely. Behavioral results revealed significant numerical distance and size congruity effects. Imaging results disclosed (1) largely overlapping fronto-parietal activation for intentional and automatic number processing, (2) a frontal to parietal shift of activation upon considering the risk factors gestational age and birth weight, and (3) a task-specific link between math proficiency and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal within distinct regions of the parietal lobes-indicating commonalities but also specificities of intentional and automatic number processing.

Poor postnatal head growth in very preterm infants is associated with impaired neurodevelopment outcome.

Aim: To examine the association between neurodevelopmental outcome and head circumference (HC) in a cohort of very preterm infants and in this context to investigate the relevance of suboptimal head size.

Methods: Somatometric data were obtained at birth, discharge and 3, 12 and 24 months for all infants born in Tyrol <32 weeks gestational age. Growth data are presented as z scores.

Brain structure, number magnitude processing, and math proficiency in 6- to 7-year-old children born prematurely: a voxel-based morphometry study.

The aim of the present voxel-based morphometry study was to examine the link between brain structure and number skills in a group of 6-7-year-old children born prematurely, which are considered to be an at-risk population for mathematical learning disabilities. Therefore, gray and white matter density values were extracted from brain areas previously reported to be relevant for number processing in developing brain systems and, thereafter, correlated with response time results tapping semantic number knowledge [i.e.

Early risk predictors for impaired numerical skills in 5-year-old children born before 32 weeks of gestation.

Aim: To unravel risk predictors for impaired numerical skills at 5 years of age in a population-based cohort of very preterm infants.

Methods: Between January 2003 and August 2006, we prospectively enrolled all infants born in Tyrol with <32 weeks of gestation. A total of 161 of 223 preterm infants (participation rate 72.