Neonatology
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Evidence-based medicine has been embraced wholeheartedly, and rightly so, as the best approach for reducing clinical uncertainty and ensuring that patients receive treatment and care that are efficacious (i.e. they work) and effective (i.e. they work in real life). High-quality evidence comes from high-quality clinical research. It would hence be reasonable to assume that these two would form a closely integrated partnership. ⋯ For neonatal medicine, this would reduce the risk of 'injurious misconception', where trial entry is inappropriately rejected by parents because of an exaggerated and disproportionate perception of risk [4] that is brought on or magnified by the burden of making decisions at this difficult and stressful time. Randomization to treatments that fall within accepted practice and are considered standard-of-care involves no research-related risks to participants, and as trial data can increasingly be extracted from electronic clinical records [5], the costs and burden of data collection placed upon clinical teams will be minimized and, ultimately, the resolution of uncertainties about treatment can be hastened. It should also be noted that this approach fulfils the four cardinal principles of research ethics, namely: autonomy, justice, beneficence and nonmaleficence as well as upholding the responsibility of all doctors to strive to reduce uncertainty in the care they provide to their patients [6].
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The limits of viability in extremely premature infants are challenging for any neonatologists in developed countries. The neurological development and growth of extremely preterm infants have come to be the emerging issue following the management in the neonatal intensive care unit. ⋯ The perinatal care after 2005 improved the overall survival rate, but not the neurological outcome of preterm survivors at the limit of viability. Neurodevelopmental impairments were associated with extremely premature birth at GA <24 weeks.
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Clinical Trial
Low-flow oxygen for positive pressure ventilation of preterm infants in the delivery room.
The recent newborn resuscitation guidelines have recommended that a pulse oximeter and oxygen blender be used to keep oxygen saturation (SpO2) within the target range. However, an oxygen blender and compressed air are not generally available in delivery rooms. ⋯ Low-flow oxygen for PPV via an SIB used in this study should be sufficient for providing oxygen in resuscitation of preterm infants as long as adequate ventilation is evident. This technique is simple and could be useful in a resource-limited setting.
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Carbon monoxide (CO), a relaxant regulator of muscle tone and marker of oxidative stress and inflammation, can be measured in exhaled air by determination of end-tidal CO corrected for CO in ambient air (ETCOc). ⋯ The higher ETCOc values in hsPDA infants early after birth reflect the early relaxant state of ductal muscular tone. ETCOc <2.5 ppm within 24 h after birth may predict the subsequent absence of hsPDA. ETCOc showed no correlation with cerebral oxygenation in both groups.
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Review Meta Analysis
Optimal oxygenation of extremely low birth weight infants: a meta-analysis and systematic review of the oxygen saturation target studies.
The optimal oxygen saturation for extremely low birth weight infants in the postnatal period beyond the delivery room is not known. ⋯ RRs for mortality and necrotizing enterocolitis are significantly increased and severe retinopathy of prematurity significantly reduced in low compared to high oxygen saturation target infants. There are no differences regarding physiologic bronchopulmonary dysplasia, brain injury or patent ductus arteriosus between the groups. Based on these results, it is suggested that functional SpO2 should be targeted at 90-95% in infants with gestational age <28 weeks until 36 weeks' postmenstrual age. However, there are still several unanswered questions in this field.