Relationship between brainstem auditory evoked potential and serum neuron-specific enolase in neonates with asphyxia / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the correlation between brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) and serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in neonates with asphyxia and explore the role of NSE in the evaluation of hearing impairment following asphyxia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-two term neonates with asphyxia, including 38 cases of simple asphyxia (mild: 23 cases; severe: 15 cases) and 14 cases of asphyxia complicated by hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), were enrolled. In the double-blind trial, BAEP and NSE were simultaneously detected 7 days after birth. The patients who did not pass BAEP test received another BAEP and NSE examinations 3 months after birth. Thirty healthy term neonates served as normal control group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 52 neonates with asphyxia, 50.0% and 21.2% of patients failed the initial and the second BAEP tests, respectively. The detection rates of BAEP anomalies in the simple severe asphyxia group in the initial and the second tests (63.3% and 26.3%, respectively) were significantly higher than those in the simple mild asphyxia group (36.9% and 5.9%, respectively)(P<0.05). The neonates with asphyxia complicated by HIE showed a higher detection rate of BAEP anomalies in the second test compared with the asphyxiated neonates without HIE (31.3% vs 16.7%; P<0.05). Mean serum NSE levels in asphyxiated neonates were significantly higher than those in normal controls (<0.01). There were significant differences in serum NSE levels between the neonates with mild and severe asphyxia (26.70+/-2.34 microg/L vs 17.18+/-3.16 microg/L; P<0.01). The asphyxiated neonates with HIE had serum NSE levels similar to the simple severely asphyxiated neonates. Serum NSE levels in patients who failed the initial BAEP test were significantly higher than those who passed the test (25.69+/-4.12 microg/L vs 17.15+/-3.09 microg/L; <0.01). Serum NSE levels had a positive correlation with wave V reaction threshold detected in the BAFP test (<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The serum level of NSE is closely correlated with BAEP, and it may be useful to the evaluation of the hearing impairment and the outcome in neonates with asphyxia.</p>

Etiology and high risk factors of neonatal ventilator-associated pneumonia / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common nosocomial infection and is responsible for a very high mortality in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients. This study was designed to investigate the etiology and high risk factors of neonatal VAP.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 106 critical neonates who were treated with mechanical ventilator between 2003 and 2005 were studied retrospectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 106 neonates, 84 received mechanical ventilation for > or = 48 hrs. Thirty-five (41.7%) out of the 84 patients developed VAP. Univariate analysis showed that gestational age, duration of mechanical ventilation, reintubation, birth weights, primary lung disease and gamma globulin administration were associated with the development of VAP (P < 0.05). Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that primary lung disease (OR=3.671, 95% CI=1.0-13.45, P < 0.05), duration of mechanical ventilation (OR=4.945, CI=1.51-16.21, P < 0.01), reintubation (OR=7.721, 95% CI=2.31-25.85, P < 0.01) and high-dose gamma globulin administration (OR=5.520, 95%CI=2.08-16.26, P < 0.01) were predicted factors for the development of VAP. The detection rate of gram negative bacilli (76.9%) was the highest, followed by gram positive coccus (17.9%) in VAP patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Opportunistic drug-resistant bacteria are common pathogens for neonatal VAP. The risk of VAP is multifactorial, including external medical environments and patients' internal agents.</p>