Pediatrics
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Partial pressure of carbon dioxide in extremely low birth weight infants supported by nasal prongs continuous positive airway pressure.
Traditionally, delivery room management of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants consisted of immediate intubation and mechanical ventilation. There have been recent reports of success using nasal prongs continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) in this population. Data on the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO(2)) in spontaneously breathing ELBW infants is very limited. The objective of this study was to determine the trend of the average PCO(2) in the spontaneously breathing ELBW infants, while on NCPAP, during the first week of life and to determine whether a brief period of mechanical ventilation affects the PCO(2) levels after extubation. ⋯ Daily average PCO(2) levels in the spontaneously breathing ELBW infants during the first week of life remains at approximately 40 mm Hg. These levels seem to be unaffected by an initial brief period of mechanical ventilation. Infants who are treated with longer periods of mechanical ventilation have higher daily maximum PCO(2) levels during the first week of life. Additional studies are required to detect neurodevelopmental outcomes of these 3 groups.
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Multicenter Study
Efficacy of implantable loop recorders in establishing symptom-rhythm correlation in young patients with syncope and palpitations.
To evaluate efficacy of the recently introduced implantable loop recorder (ILR) in establishing symptom-rhythm correlation in young patients with syncope, near syncope, palpitations, and acute life-threatening events (ALTEs). ⋯ ILR is useful in determining the presence or absence of an arrhythmia during symptoms of syncope, near syncope, and palpitations as well as ALTEs in patients with and without structural heart disease when conventional diagnostic testing, such as electrocardiogram, Holter monitoring, and/or external loop recording, is inconclusive.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Visual, cognitive, and language assessments at 39 months: a follow-up study of children fed formulas containing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids to 1 year of age.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids found in breast milk and recently added to infant formulas. Their importance in infant nutrition was recognized by the rapid accretion of these fatty acids in the brain during the first postnatal year, reports of enhanced intellectual development in breastfed children, and recognition of the physiologic importance of DHA in visual and neural systems from studies in animal models. These considerations led to clinical trials to evaluate whether infant formulas that are supplemented with DHA or both DHA and ARA would enhance visual and cognitive development or whether conversion of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, the essential fatty acid precursors of ARA and DHA, respectively, at the levels found in infant formulas is sufficient to support adequately visual and cognitive development. Visual and cognitive development were not different with supplementation in some studies, whereas other studies reported benefits of adding DHA or both DHA and ARA to formula. One of the first trials with term infants that were fed formula supplemented with DHA or both DHA and ARA evaluated growth, visual acuity (Visual Evoked Potential; Acuity Card Procedure), mental and motor development (Bayley Scales of Infant Development), and early language development (MacArthur Communicative Developmental Inventories). Growth, visual acuity, and mental and motor development were not different among the 3 formula groups or between the breastfed and formula-fed infants in the first year of life. At 14 months of age, infants who were fed the formula with DHA but no ARA had lower vocabulary production and comprehension scores than infants who were fed the unsupplemented control formula or who were breastfed, respectively. The present follow-up study evaluated IQ, receptive and expressive vocabulary, visual-motor function, and visual acuity of children from the original trial when they reached 39 months of age. ⋯ We reported previously that infants who were fed an unsupplemented formula or one with DHA or with both DHA and ARA through 12 months or were breastfed showed no differences in mental and motor development, but those who were fed DHA without ARA had lower vocabulary scores on a standardized, parent-report instrument at 14 months of age when compared with infants who were fed the unsupplemented formula or who were breastfed. When the infants were reassessed at 39 months using age-appropriate tests of receptive and expressive language as well as IQ, visual-motor function and visual acuity, no differences among the formula groups or between the formula and breastfed groups were found. The 14-month observation thus may have been a transient effect of DHA (without ARA) supplementation on early vocabulary development or may have occurred by chance. The absence of differences in growth achievement adds to the evidence that DHA with or without ARA supports normal growth in full-term infants. In conclusion, adding both DHA and ARA when supplementing infant formulas with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids supports visual and cognitive development through 39 months.
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Neonatal candidemia is often fatal. Empirical antifungal therapy is associated with improved survival in neonates and patients with fever and neutropenia. Although guidelines for empirical therapy exist for patients with fever and neutropenia, these do not exist for neonates. ⋯ We developed a clinical predictive model for neonatal candidemia with high sensitivity and moderate specificity for candidemia. On the basis of our model, when a physician obtains a blood culture, the physician should consider providing antifungal therapy to neonates who are <25 weeks' estimated gestational age and to neonates who have thrombocytopenia at the time of blood culture. In addition, if a physician obtains a blood culture from a child who is 25 to 27 weeks' estimated gestational age and is not thrombocytopenic but has a history of third-generation cephalosporin or carbapenem exposure in the 7 days before the blood culture, then the physician should consider administration of empirical antifungal therapy.
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Disparities and inequities characterize the health and social well-being of children in the United States and the United Kingdom. Children's rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are among the most powerful tools available to respond to and increase the relevance of pediatrics to contemporary disparities and determinants of child health outcomes. The articles of the convention establish the framework for a redefinition of what constitutes child health. The convention establishes a template for child advocacy, a matrix for establishing new approaches to health services, a curriculum for professional education, and a set of challenges for future child health outcomes and health systems research.