Clinical effect of different maintenance doses of caffeine citrate in the treatment of preterm infants requiring assisted ventilation: a pilot multicenter study / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To explore the optimal maintenance dose of caffeine citrate for preterm infants requiring assisted ventilation and caffeine citrate treatment.@*METHODS@#A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 566 preterm infants (gestational age ≤34 weeks) who were treated and required assisted ventilation and caffeine citrate treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit of 30 tertiary hospitals in Jiangsu Province of China between January 1 and December 31, 2019. The 405 preterm infants receiving high-dose (10 mg/kg per day) caffeine citrate after a loading dose of 20 mg/kg within 24 hours after birth were enrolled as the high-dose group. The 161 preterm infants receiving low-dose (5 mg/kg per day) caffeine citrate were enrolled as the low-dose group.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the low-dose group, the high-dose group had significant reductions in the need for high-concentration oxygen during assisted ventilation (P=0.044), the duration of oxygen inhalation after weaning from noninvasive ventilation (P<0.01), total oxygen inhalation time during hospitalization (P<0.01), the proportion of preterm infants requiring noninvasive ventilation again (P<0.01), the rate of use of pulmonary surfactant and budesonide (P<0.05), and the incidence rates of apnea and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (P<0.01), but the high-dose group had a significantly increased incidence rate of feeding intolerance (P=0.032). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the body weight change, the incidence rates of retinopathy of prematurity, intraventricular hemorrhage or necrotizing enterocolitis, the mortality rate, and the duration of caffeine use (P>0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#This pilot multicenter study shows that the high maintenance dose (10 mg/kg per day) is generally beneficial to preterm infants in China and does not increase the incidence rate of common adverse reactions. For the risk of feeding intolerance, further research is needed to eliminate the interference of confounding factors as far as possible.

Preadmission follow-up condition of neonates hospitalized due to severe hyperbilirubinemia after discharge from the department of obstetrics and influencing factors for follow-up compliance: a multicenter investigation / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To investigate the preadmission follow-up condition of neonates hospitalized due to severe hyperbilirubinemia after discharge from the department of obstetrics and the influencing factors for follow-up compliance.@*METHODS@#A multicenter retrospective case-control study was performed for the cases from the multicenter clinical database of 12 units in the Quality Improvement Clinical Research Cooperative Group of Neonatal Severe Hyperbilirubinemia in Jiangsu Province of China from January 2019 to April 2021. According to whether the follow-up of neonatal jaundice was conducted on time after discharge from the department of obstetrics, the neonates were divided into two groups: good follow-up compliance and poor follow-up compliance. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify the influencing factors for follow-up compliance of the neonates before admission.@*RESULTS@#A total of 545 neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia were included in the study, with 156 neonates (28.6%) in the good follow-up compliance group and 389 (71.4%) in the poor follow-up compliance group. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that low gestational age at birth, ≥10% reduction in body weight on admission compared with birth weight, history of phototherapy of siblings, history of exchange transfusion of siblings, Rh(-) blood type of the mother, a higher educational level of the mother, the use of WeChat official account by medical staff to remind of follow-up before discharge from the department of obstetrics, and the method of telephone notification to remind of follow-up after discharge were associated with the increase in follow-up compliance (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Poor follow-up compliance is observed for the neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia after discharge from the department of obstetrics, which suggests that it is necessary to further strengthen the education of jaundice to parents before discharge and improve the awareness of jaundice follow-up. It is recommended to remind parents to follow up on time by phone or WeChat official account.

A multicenter retrospective study on survival rate and complications of very preterm infants / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To study the survival rate and the incidence of complications of very preterm infants and the factors influencing the survival rate and the incidence of complications.@*METHODS@#The medical data of the very preterm infants with a gestational age of <32 weeks and who were admitted to the Department of Neonatology in 11 hospitals of Jiangsu Province in China from January 2018 to December 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Their survival rate and the incidence of serious complications were analyzed. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors for death and serious complications in very preterm infants.@*RESULTS@#A total of 2 339 very preterm infants were enrolled, among whom 2 010 (85.93%) survived and 1 507 (64.43%) survived without serious complications. The groups with a gestational age of 22-25@*CONCLUSIONS@#The survival rate is closely associated with gestational age in very preterm infants. A low 1-minute Apgar score (≤3) may increase the risk of death in very preterm infants, while high gestational age, high birth weight, and prenatal use of glucocorticoids are associated with the reduced risk of death. A low 5-minute Apgar score (≤3) and maternal chorioamnionitis may increase the risk of serious complications in these infants, while high gestational age and high birth weight may reduce the risk of serious complications.

An investigation of severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in 13 hospitals of Jiangsu Province, China / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the incidence of severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and the management on the treatment and follow-up of this disease in Jiangsu Province, China.@*METHODS@#The neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia who were admitted to 13 hospitals in Jiangsu Province from January to December, 2018, were enrolled as subjects. A retrospective analysis was performed on their mediacal data and follow-up data.@*RESULTS@#In 2018, 740 neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia were reported from the 13 hospitals in Jiangsu Province, accounting for 2.70% (740/27 386) of the total number of neonates admitted to the department of neonatology. Among these neonates, 620 (83.8%) had severe hyperbilirubinemia, 106 (14.3%) had extremely severe hyperbilirubinemia, and 14 (1.9%) had hazardous hyperbilirubinemia. Four neonates (0.5%) were diagnosed with acute bilirubin encephalopathy. A total of 484 neonates (65.4%) were readmitted due to severe hyperbilirubinemia after discharge from the delivery institution, with a median age of 7 days, among whom 214 (44.2%) were followed up for jaundice at the outpatient service before readmission, with a median age of 6 days at the first time of outpatient examination. During hospitalization, 211 neonates (28.5%) underwent cranial MRI examinations, among whom 85 (40.3%) had high T1WI signal in the bilateral basal ganglia and the globus pallidus; 238 neonates (32.2%) underwent brainstem auditory evoked potential examinations, among whom 14 (5.9%) passed only at one side and 7 (2.9%) failed at both sides. The 17 neonates with acute bilirubin encephalopathy or hazardous hyperbilirubinemia were followed up. Except one neonate was lost to follow-up, and there were no abnormal neurological symptoms in the other neonates.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia account for a relatively high proportion of the total number of neonates in the department of neonatology. Jaundice monitoring and management after discharge from delivery institutions need to be strengthened. For neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia, relevant examinations should be carried out more comprehensively during hospitalization and these neonates should be followed up comprehensively and systematically after discharge.

Therapeutic effect of neonatal mouse Cytomegalovirus hepatitis by CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide 2395 / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To study the treatment effects of newborn mice murine Cytomegalovirus (MCMV) hepatitis by using CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide 2395 (CpG ODN2395).Methods Specific pathogen-free BALB/c newborn mice were divided into 3 groups according to the broods randomly:control group,virus group and treatment group.In control group 9 g/L sodium chloride 20 × 10-6 L was intraperitoneally injected every other day.In virus group MCMV (TCID50 =108.31/L) 20 × 10-6 L was intraperitoneally injected once and 9 g/L sodium chloride solution 20 × 10-6 L was intraperitoneally injected every other day.In treatment group murine MCMV(TCID50 =10S31/L) 20 × 10-6 L was intraperitoneally injected once and from the first day CpG ODN2395 20 mg/kg was intraperitoneally injected every other day.Growths and development of mice were observed.Murine body weights were measured.Pathology of livers was observed by means of hematoxylin and eosin stain.The levels of serum ALT and IFN-α were measured by adopting enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.MCMV loads in liver were measured by way of polymerase chain reaction.The expression levels of IFN-α mRNA in liver were detected by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.The expression levels of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) and myeloid cell differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) in liver were detected by adopting Western blot.The results were analyzed by using SPSS 16.0 statistics software.Results 1.Compared with control group and treatment group,growth and development of virus group mice fell behind and on day 7,14 body weights were lowest(F =18.919,25.543,all P ＜ 0.05).Growth and development of treatment group mice were between control group and virus group.Body weights of treatment group mice were lower than those of control group,and there was statistical difference on day 7 (t =3.187,P ＜ 0.05).2.Compared with control group and treatment group,the levels of ALT in virus group was highest.ALT levels of treatment group were higher than those of control group and treatment group(F =11.407,11.791,154.656,all P ＜ 0.05).3.The pathologic change of liver tissue:the HAI of virus group reached the peak on day 3,then decreased gradually.The HAI of treatment group also reached the peak on day 3,but liver damage was obviously less than those of virus group.The liver damage also relieved gradually and the mean of HAI was obviously lower than that of virus group on day 7 and 14.4.MCMV DNA in liver was negative at control group.The magnitude of viral loading in livers of virus group was higher than that of treatment group.5.The levels of IFN-α in treatment group and virus group reached a peak on day 3 and declined gradually on day 7,14.The levels of IFN-α on treatment group were higher than that of virus group and control group.The levels of IFN-α virus group were higher than those of control group,but had no statistical difference.6.The mRNA expression of IFN-α in livers of treatment group and virus group began to increase on day 3 and reached a peak on day 7,and declined on day 14.The mRNA expression of IFN-α was higher than that of virus group and control group.The mRNA expression of virus group was higher than that of control group.7.The expressions of TLR9 and MyD88 in livers of treatment group were higher than that of virus group and control group.The expressions of TLR9 and MyD88 of virus group were higher than those of control group.Conclusions CpG ODN2395 can obviously improved liver function and histopathological lesions and reduce MCMV DNA load within liver tissues as well.CpG ODN2395 can improve the expression levels of TLR9 in liver and activate secretion interferon alpha by MyD88-dependent pathway,which were likely to play an important role in its treatment of murine CMV infection.

A population-based epidemiological survey of neonatal respiratory failure in Huai'an City of Jiangsu Province, in 2010 / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the prevalence, clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of neonatal respiratory failure (NRF) in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, China, in 2010.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of all NRF cases in the hospitals of Huai'an in 2010 were prospectively collected and analyzed using descriptive epidemiological methods.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among 60,986 live births in Huai'an in 2010, there were 556 (0.91%) cases of NRF. The average birth weight of newborns with NRF was 2,433±789 g, with 53.8% determined as low birth weight and 64.1% as preterm. The major causes of NRF were respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, asphyxia, sepsis, and pulmonary hemorrhage. Among the newborns with NRF, 23.7% were accompanied by certain birth defects. Fourteen percent of newborns with NRF received pulmonary surfactant (PS) therapy, and the median time of the first dose of PS was 5 hours (range: 0-51 hours). Nasal continuous positive airway pressure treatment, conventional mechanical ventilation, and high-frequency ventilation were used in 67.9%, 33.3%, and 13.7% of patients, respectively. The cure and improvement rate of NRF patients was 73.9% (411/556), and the mortality rate was 22.5% (125/556). The average hospitalization expenses were 9,270 (range: 196-38182) Yuan.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>High morbidity, high mortality and high medical costs make NRF a serious challenge in Huai'an. It is essential to improve the quality of perinatal care and develop new techniques and new models in neonatal respiratory therapy in order to reduce the morbidity and mortality of NRF.</p>