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Objective:To study the early use of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) as a rescue therapy in extremely premature infants (EPIs) with refractory hypoxic respiratory failure (HRF).Methods:Between January 2021 and December 2021, EPIs with refractory HRF receiving iNO within the first week of life in our NICU were enrolled. Their clinical characteristics and outcomes were retrospectively analyzed.Results:A total of 11 EPIs were included with 5 males and 6 females. The median gestational age (GA) was 24(22.6, 25.2) weeks. The median birth weight (BW) was 580(490, 770) g. The most common primary diagnoses were moderate/severe respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) (5/11) and early-onset sepsis (3/11). The median age starting iNO therapy was 6.5(4.5, 34.0)h and the median duration of iNO was 24(12, 36)h. The median iNO starting dose was 5(5, 8) ppm and the therapeutic range was 5-20 ppm. Therapeutic efficacy was defined as ≥30% FiO 2 reduction after 6 h of iNO treatment. The treatment was effective in 8 cases. The oxygenation index (OI) decreased more than 10% from baseline 1 h after initiation in 9 patients and in all 11 patients after 12 h of iNO. The reduction of OI was more prominent in EPIs with a higher OI at baseline. Of the 11 patients, 8 survived, 1 died and 2 abandoned further treatments. Conclusions:As an early rescue therapy for EPIs with refractory HRF, iNO can improve oxygenation without obvious short-term adverse effects.
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Objective:Lung ultrasound (LUS) has been used in the diagnosis of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome(RDS) successfully, but there have been no multicenter prospective studies to verify its reliability or determine how to grade RDS with LUS findings.This study aimed to discuss the necessity and feasibility of using LUS findings to determine RDS grades through a multicenter prospective study.Methods:Every researcher participated in the National Neonatal Lung Ultrasound Training Course and receiving 3-6 months of lung ultrasound system training at the National Neonatal Lung Ultrasound Training Center.Patients between June 2018 and May 2020 who met the RDS ultrasound diagnostic criteria and had full available clinical data were included in this study.The LUS examination was completed immediately after the patients were admitted to the hospital.Some of them also underwent chest X-ray examination.Arterial blood gas analysis was completed immediately before or after the LUS ultrasound examination.RDS grading was performed according to the LUS findings and whether the patient had serious complications.Results:A total of 275 qualifying cases were included in this study, which included 220 premature infants and 55 full-term infants, and the primary RDS occurred in 117 cases (42.5%), and secondary RDS occurred in 158 cases (57.5%). LUS manifestations of RDS patients can be divided into three categories: (1)A ground-glass opacity sign: which could be found among 50 infants when they were admitted to the hospital (that was, at their first LUS examination). Twenty-eight of these infants were considered to have wet lungs and were not sent for special management on admission, but LUS showed typical snowflake-like lung consolidation within 0.5 to 4 hours.Twenty-two of them were given mechanical ventilation with exogenous pulmonary surfactant; Eighteen cases were controlled within 6-12 hours, but the lung lesions became more severe in the other 4 infants (due to severe intrauterine infection). (2)Snowflake-like lung consolidations: the first LUS on admission showed typical snowflake-like lung consolidation involving areas ranging from 1-2 intercostal spaces to 12 lung divisions in 204 cases.Thirty-eight infants among them the lung consolidation only had involvement of 1-2 intercostal spaces at the time of admission; Fifteen of them received invasive respiratory support and recovered within 4-12 hours.Twelve patients received noninvasive respiratory support; Seven of them recovered, while five cases developed severe lung illness.The remaining 11 patients who were not given any form of ventilator support developed severe conditions within 1-4 hours.Thirty of them showed snowflake signs involving 12 lung regions at admission.The remaining 136 patients had lung consolidation degree between the two degree above condition.(3)Snowflake-like sign with complications: Twenty-one patients had severe complications such as pneumothorax, pulmonary hemorrhage or/and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn or large area atelectasis, etc, although snowflake lung consolidation did not involve all lung regions.Conclusion:(1) LUS is reliable and accurate for diagnosing RDS.RDS has the same characteristics on ultrasound for both preterm and full-term infants, both primary and secondary RDS.(2) To facilitate the management of RDS, it is necessary to classify RDS according to the ultrasound findings and the presence of severe complications.(3) Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that RDS can be divided into mild, moderate and severe degrees.The exact standards for grading are as follows: Mild RDS: the early stage of RDS, in which lung consolidation shows as a ground-glass opacity sign on ultrasound; Moderate RDS: lung consolidation shows a snowflake sign on ultrasound, not all of the lung fields are involved; Severe RDS meets one or more of the following criteria: lung consolidation shows as a snowflake sign on ultrasound and all lung regions are involved, or regardless of its degree and extent, lung consolidation has caused serious complications, such as pulmonary hemorrhage, pneumothorax, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, or/and a large area of pulmonary atelectasis.
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Objective@#To investigate the efficacy and adverse effects of sustained lung inflation (SLI) combined with pulmonary surfactant (PS) in the treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS).@*Methods@#This prospective randomized controlled trial included 124 premature infants (gestational age <34 weeks and birth weight <2 000 g) diagnosed with NRDS and in need of PS treatment in Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital affiliated to Southern Medical University from July 1, 2016 to October 31, 2018. They were randomly divided into experimental or control group, with 62 cases in each. Infants in the experimental group were treated with SLI using T-piece and intratracheal PS, while those in the control group were given PS only. Blood gas analysis and measurement of fraction of inspiration O2 (FiO2) and ratio of partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) over FiO2 were performed before and 1 h after PS injection. Results of the treatments and incidence of complications were compared. Paired samples t-test, two independent samples t-test, rank-sum test and Chi-square test were used for statistical analysis.@*Results@#There were 56 participants in the experimental group and 54 in the control group who were eventually analyzed. In the experimental group, the pH value, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2), FiO2 and PO2/FiO2 at 1 h after PS injection were all improved compared with those before treatment [pH value: 7.26±0.09 vs 7.19±0.09, t=3.814; PCO2: (51.5±12.6) vs (59.8±16.3) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), t=2.610; FiO2: 26.0 (21.0-31.5)% vs 40.5 (38.5-51.5)%, U=392.000; PO2/FiO2: (284.6±117.9) vs (173.4±59.7) mmHg, t=6.427; all P<0.05]. The overall decrement of FiO2 after PS injection in the experimental group was more significant than that in the control group [-10.0 (-15.0 to -5.0)% vs -5.0 (-8.0 to 0.0)%, U=706.500, P<0.001]. The experimental group had a higher rate of extubation within 24 h than the control group [80% (45/56) vs 71% (32/54), χ2=5.830, P=0.016]. However, no significant differences were shown in total mechanical ventilation time, non-invasive/high-flow nasal cannula ventilation time, the ratio of re-intubation within 72 h, or the incidence of air leak, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis or patent ductus arteriosus between the two groups (all P>0.05).@*Conclusions@#SLI combined with PS for NRDS babies can increase the rate of extubation within 24 h and promote the down-regulation of FiO2 without causing significant complications.