Seminars in perinatology
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Seminars in perinatology · Feb 2005
Review Historical ArticleExtracorporeal life support: history and new directions.
This review recounts the development of extracorporeal life support (ECLS, ECMO) from the laboratory and early clinical trials to routine clinical application. Lessons from neonatal ECMO have led to better understanding of neonatal lung physiology, improved methods of treatment, and application of ECLS to other patient populations.
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Although initially designed for respiratory failure, venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) has become a mainstay of therapy in the treatment of patients with congenital heart disease, providing preoperative and postoperative support for infants with temporary impairment of myocardial function. Postoperative support for pulmonary hypertension has allowed dramatic improvements in lesions such as total anomalous pulmonary venous connection. ⋯ The results of "rescue ECMO" or extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) has shown that many children with congenital heart disease are very salvageable despite sudden decompensation and arrest. These techniques of VA ECMO have evolved and improved over the last two decades, allowing expanded application of this life saving support.
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Seminars in perinatology · Dec 2004
ReviewEmerging concepts in periventricular white matter injury.
Approximately 10% of newborns are born prematurely. Of these children, more than 10% will sustain neurological injuries leading to significant learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, or mental retardation, with very low birth weight infants having an even higher incidence of brain injury. Whereas intraventricular hemorrhage was the most common form of serious neurological injury a decade ago, periventricular white matter injury (PWMI) is now the most common cause of brain injury in preterm infants. ⋯ Other potential mechanisms of injury include activation of microglia and axonal damage. Chemical mediators that may contribute to white matter injury include reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS), glutamate, cytokines, and adenosine. As our understanding of the pathogenesis of PWMI improves, it is anticipated that new strategies for directly preventing brain injury in premature infants will evolve.
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Seminars in perinatology · Dec 2004
Review Comparative StudyImaging perinatal brain injury in premature infants.
The primary methods currently in use for imaging the infant brain are cranial ultrasound (CUS), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This review outlines the relative strengths and weaknesses of these modalities in relation to the premature infant, with specific focus on the correlations between imaging findings and neurodevelopmental outcome. Since MRI is undergoing rapid development at this time, the newer MRI methods of brain volume measurement and diffusion tensor imaging are reviewed in more detail. Current guidelines regarding the application of these neuroimaging methods to the premature infant are discussed.
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Perinatal brain injury in the term infant is a relatively uncommon event. The principal lesions are intracranial hemorrhage including subarachnoid, subdural, intraparenchymal, intraventricular, focal cerebral infarction and hypoxic ischemic cerebral injury secondary to intrapartum hypoxia-ischemia. Both intracranial hemorrhage and focal cerebral infarction are invariably identified at the time of clinical symptoms, ie, seizures or apnea. ⋯ Secondary or reperfusion injury is potentially amenable to neuroprotective strategies. Modest hypothermia is one such therapy that has been studied in high-risk newborn infants with some initial success. Future studies need to focus on additional neuroprotective strategies.