Transient right sided hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in an infant born to a diabetic mother.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a rare primary myocardial disease, characterized by hypertrophy of the left and/or right ventricle. Infants of diabetic mothers (IDM) are at risk for development of HCM, respiratory distress and persistent pulmonary hypertension. A case of severe right sided HCM in an infant born to a diabetic mother is presented. The patient's findings were complementary to the previous observations reporting HCM in IDM. The presence of disproportionate septal hypertrophy in the echocardiography of an infant born to a diabetic mother is highly suggestive of HCM in IDM. In our opinion, further cardiac evaluation is not indicated unless other cardiac abnormalities are suspected.

Breast milk versus infant formulas: effects on intestinal blood flow in neonates.

The differences between breast milk and infant formulas have been a popular subject of many recent studies. Most concern the chemical and biological characteristics of breast milk and infant formulas, but little work has been done about hemodynamic changes in the splanchnic circulation. In term neonates (n = 22) we evaluated the effect of breast milk, adapted cow's milk formula, and nucleotide supplemented cow's milk formula on intestinal blood flow. To determine the blood flow velocity and estimate volume flow, pulsed Doppler ultrasound of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) was performed prefeeding and 15, 45, and 90 minutes following feeding. When pre- and postprandial blood flow features of babies were compared among in their groups according to nutrition post prandial blood flow velocity and volume flow were increased significantly over baseline in all three groups. While there was no significant difference between the postprandial blood flow parameters of the breast milk and adapted cow's milk formula-fed groups, the nucleotide supplemented cow's milk formula-fed group had significantly higher postprandial blood flow velocity and volume flow.

Assessment of clinical impact and predisposing factors for neonatal thrombocytopenia.

Thrombocytopenia is a common hemostatic abnormality in the newborn infant. The early diagnosis of thrombocytopenia and the underlying primary pathology process play an important role in reducing the risk of severe complications and mortality. We performed a 2-year prospective study of 643 neonates admitted to our neonatology unit to determine the frequency, predisposing factors, and clinical impact of thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia developed in 18.2% of the preterm neonates and 0.8% of the term neonates. Prematurity, sepsis, hypoxia, intrauterine growth retardation, and disseminated intravascular coagulation were identified as predisposing factors for thrombocytopenia. The incidence of complications and mortality were higher in thrombocytopenic infants. Especially the prognosis was worse in cases who had mucosal hemorrhage, without a relation with the degree of thrombocytopenia. The thrombocytopenia occurred by day 2 in 43% of the infants, and resolved by day 8 in 61%. The platelet count nadir occurred by day 2. Since thrombocytopenic infants are at greater risk for bleeding, and the thrombocytopenia itself may have contributed to the high mortality, predisposing factors such as prematurity, infections, hypoxia must be eliminated by providing better care, giving adequate hygiene of both mother and the baby during the prenatal, natal, and neonatal period.