Subject(s)
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized , Antiviral Agents , Infant, Newborn, Diseases , Infant, Premature , Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/therapeutic use , Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Hospitalization , Palivizumab , Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections/prevention & control , Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections/drug therapy , Term Birth , Infant, Newborn, Diseases/drug therapy , Infant, Newborn, Diseases/prevention & controlABSTRACT
Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) acts as a selective pulmonary vasodilator and it is currently approved by the FDA for the treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. iNO has been demonstrated to effectively decrease pulmonary artery pressure and improve oxygenation, while decreasing extracorporeal life support use in hypoxic newborns affected by persistent pulmonary hypertension. Also, iNO seems a safe treatment with limited side effects. Despite the promising beneficial effects of NO in the preclinical literature, there is still a lack of high quality evidence for the use of iNO in clinical settings. A variety of clinical applications have been suggested in and out of the critical care environment, aiming to use iNO in respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension of adults or as a preventative measure of hemolysis-induced vasoconstriction, ischemia/reperfusion injury and as a potential treatment of renal failure associated with cardiopulmonary bypass. In this narrative review we aim to present a comprehensive summary of the potential use of iNO in several clinical conditions with its suggested benefits, including its recent application in the scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic. Randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, guidelines, observational studies and case-series were reported and the main findings summarized. Furthermore, we will describe the toxicity profile of NO and discuss an innovative proposed strategy to produce iNO. Overall, iNO exhibits a wide range of potential clinical benefits, that certainly warrants further efforts with randomized clinical trials to determine specific therapeutic roles of iNO.
Subject(s)
Critical Illness , Hypertension, Pulmonary/drug therapy , Infant, Newborn, Diseases/drug therapy , Nitric Oxide/therapeutic use , Vasodilator Agents/therapeutic use , Adult , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/virology , Humans , Hypertension, Pulmonary/etiology , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Newborn, Diseases/etiology , Nitric Oxide/pharmacology , SARS-CoV-2/drug effects , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Vasodilator Agents/pharmacology , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
AIM: To describe a term newborn with acquired severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and multisystem involvement including seizures associated to ischemic lesions in the brain. BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is predominantly a respiratory infection, but it may affect many other systems. Most pediatric COVID-19 cases range from asymptomatic to mild-moderate disease. There are no specific clinical signs described for neonatal COVID-19 infections. In children, severe central nervous system compromise has been rarely reported. CASE DESCRIPTION: We describe a 17-day-old newborn who acquired a SARS-CoV-2 infection in a family meeting that was admitted for fever, seizures and lethargy and in whom consumption coagulopathy, ischemic lesions in the brain and cardiac involvement were documented. CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 neonatal infection can be associated with multi-organic involvement. In our patient, significant central nervous system compromise associated to ischemic lesions and laboratory findings of consumption coagulopathy were found. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Although neonatal SARS-CoV-2 infections are infrequent, they can be associated with multi-organic involvement. Neonatologists and pediatricians should be aware of this unusual way of presentation of COVID-19 in newborn infants.