Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition
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Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. · Sep 2015
Observational StudyPulse oximetry as a screening tool for detecting major congenital heart defects in Indian newborns.
To evaluate the use of pulse oximetry as a screening tool for detecting major congenital heart defects (CHDs) in Indian newborns. ⋯ Pulse oximetry is a sensitive screening tool for detecting major CHDs in Indian newborns. It adds significant value to the current practice of using clinical examination as a sole screening tool for detecting major CHDs. However, specificity of pulse oximetry was much lower in our study. Possible reasons for low specificity could be non-repetition of pulse oximetry in newborns with initial lower saturations, high prevalence of infections and respiratory issues in our cohort and use of non-motion tolerant oximeter.
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Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. · Sep 2015
International survey on periextubation practices in extremely preterm infants.
To determine periextubation practices in extremely preterm infants (<28 weeks gestation). ⋯ Periextubation practices vary considerably; decisions are frequently physician dependent and not evidence based. The definition of EF is variable and well-defined criteria for reintubation are rarely used. High-quality trials are required to inform guidelines and standardise periextubation practices.
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Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. · Jul 2015
ReviewEarly onset neonatal sepsis: diagnostic dilemmas and practical management.
Early onset neonatal sepsis is persistently associated with poor outcomes, and incites clinical practice based on the fear of missing a treatable infection in a timely fashion. Unnecessary exposure to antibiotics is also hazardous. Diagnostic dilemmas are discussed in this review, and suggestions offered for practical management while awaiting a more rapidly available 'gold standard' test; in an ideal world, this test would be 100% sensitive and 100% specific for the presence of organisms.
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Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. · Jul 2015
Clinical TrialThe development of a tongue assessment tool to assist with tongue-tie identification.
To produce a simple tool with good transferability to provide a consistent assessment of tongue appearance and function in infants with tongue-tie. ⋯ The BTAT provides an objective, clear and simple measure of the severity of a tongue-tie, to inform selection of infants for frenotomy and to monitor the effect of the procedure.
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Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. · Jul 2015
ReviewInguinal hernia repair in premature infants: more questions than answers.
This review shows that there are many single institution studies reviewing outcomes of premature infants with IH. However, the numbers of patients in these studies are often small and most studies were retrospective, therefore, these studies were subject to the limitations inherent to observational studies for identifying best treatment methods. ⋯ Yet, despite the frequency of IH repair in premature infants, this issue remains unstudied in a high-quality manner. A large, multicentre randomised trial is currently underway to address the effect of timing on the short-term and long-term safety and efficacy of IH repair in this population so that we may be able to deliver safe surgical care to this vulnerable population.