Early human development
-
Early human development · Feb 2012
Withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for newborn infants from a Christian perspective.
The more vulnerable a person, of whatever age, therefore, the more there must be a presumption in favour of life; and care must be offered with particular respect and dignity, and in the best interests of the infant her/himself, not in those of others. The principles, that guide Christians in making ethical healthcare decisions, were derived from two core Christian beliefs: that all human beings, of whatever age, are "made in the image of God"--so human beings have a distinctive dignity and value, and may not be treated as possessions or commodities; and that we are therefore made to live relationally--so communal, as well as individual, perspectives ought to be considered in ethical decision-making. The article then notes and explores three areas in which it may not be in the infant's best interests for life-sustaining treatment to continue or to be initiated, noting the complexity of "quality of life" questions, and the danger of considering others' quality of life over that of the infant. So, to safeguard the vulnerable, the threshold for acceptable "quality of life" needs to be set at a "low" level; and a distinction should be drawn, in considering withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, between medical intervention and "assisted-care" - so that there are very limited circumstances in which life-sustaining treatments ought to be withheld or withdrawn from newborn infants.
-
Early human development · Jan 2012
Long-term neurological outcome of term-born children treated with two or more anti-epileptic drugs during the neonatal period.
Neonatal seizures may persist despite treatment with multiple anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). ⋯ In term-born infants with seizures that required two or more AEDs outcome was poorer if seizure control failed. The number of AEDs required to reach seizure control and seizure aetiology had limited prognostic value.
-
Early human development · Jan 2012
Skin conductance measurements as pain assessment in newborn infants born at 22-27 weeks gestational age at different postnatal age.
To assess pain or stress in newborn infants submitted to intensive care is important but difficult, as different observational pain scales are not always reliable in premature infants. As an indicator of pain, skin conductance (SC) measurements have detected increased sweating in newborn infants >28 gestational age (GA) submitted to heel lancing. ⋯ Changes in SC could be detected in infants at <28+0 PNA and related to the combination of heel lancing and squeezing. A maturational development of the SC was observed in infants born <28 GA. SC seems to be able to differentiate between pain and discomfort.
-
Early human development · Nov 2011
Practice GuidelineEvidence based management guidelines for the detection and treatment of congenital CMV.
CMV is the most common congenital infection in newborns worldwide. Congenital CMV causes sensorineural hearing loss in a significant proportion of infected newborns, while the majority of newborns are asymptomatic. In the last three years there have been significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of congenital CMV. We have developed practical evidence based guidelines for the management of congenital CMV.
-
Early human development · Oct 2011
Health-related quality of life, emotional and behavioral problems in mild to moderate prematures at (pre-)school age.
There is a gap in the knowledge of longterm outcome of mild to moderate prematures compared to the extreme prematures or very low birth weight infants. ⋯ Children born at 32 to 36 weeks' gestational age do not experience an overall lower HR-QoL at 2 to 5 years of age. CPAP results in lower HRQoL scores for lung problems. The overall occurrence of behavioral and emotional problems does not differ from the general term-born pediatric population. Several subitems need further attention.