Neonatal outcomes and long-term neurodevelopmental evaluations of hospitalized early term infants: prospective case-control study.

BACKGROUNDS: It was intended to compare early term babies to term babies by reviewing short-term issues and long-term neurodevelopmental evaluations. METHODS: It was planned as a prospective case-control study. Of the 4263 infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, 109 infants born at early term by elective cesarean section and hospitalized within the first 10 postnatal days were included in the study. As the control group, 109 babies born at term were enrolled. Nutrition status of infants, reasons for hospitalization in the first postnatal week were recorded. When the babies were 18-24 months old, an appointment was made for neurodevelopmental evaluation. RESULTS: In the early term group, the time of breastfeeding was later than the control group, with a statistically significant difference. Similarly, breastfeeding difficulty, need for formula in the first week postpartum and hospitalization were found to be significantly higher in the early term group. Considering the short-term results; pathological weight loss, hyperbilirubinemia requiring phototherapy and feeding difficulties were statistically significantly higher in the early term group. Neurodevelopmental delay did not statistically differ across the groups, but the early term group's MDI and PDI scores were found to be statistically lower than those of the term group. CONCLUSION: Early term infants are thought to be like term infants in many ways. Although these babies are similar to term babies, they are still physiologically immature. The short and long-term negative consequences of early term birth are obvious, non-medical elective early term births should be prevented.

Bacteremia due to healthcare-associated urinary tract infections in children.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological data on secondary bacteremia associated with nosocomial urinary tract infections generally include adult patients with urinary catheters. AIM: To evaluate the frequency and outcome of secondary bacteremia complicating healthcare-associated urinary tract infections. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was conducted between May 2013 and December 2017 at the Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital and included symptomatic nosocomial urinary tract infections. A total of 117 patients with positive blood cultures were enrolled in the study. RESULTS: Six patients had bacteremia associated with nosocomial urinary tract infections yielding an incidence of 5.1%. The pathogens responsible for secondary bacteremia were: Klebsiella pneumonia in two patients, Enterococcus faecium in two patients, Klebsiella oxytoca in one patient, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in one patient. CONCLUSION: The incidence of bacteremia associated with nosocomial urinary tract infections was not different from bacteremia associated with community-acquired urinary tract infections, and was approximately 5%.

Nemaline myopathy in a newborn infant: a rare muscle disorder.

Nemaline myopathy (NM) is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous muscle disorder, defined by the presence of characteristic nemaline bodies on muscle biopsy. The disease has a wide spectrum of phenotypes, ranging from forms with neonatal onset and fatal outcome to asymptomatic forms. The neonatal form is severe and usually fatal. The clinical variability, with differing age of onset and severity of symptoms makes the diagnosis difficult during infancy. There is no curative treatment. L-tyrosine may prevent aspiration by reducing pharyngeal secretions and drooling. Most of the patients die from respiratory and cardiac failure. This article discusses a newborn infant who presented with generalized weakness and respiratory failure. Partial response to L-tyrosine treatment was noted. The case is worth presenting to remind clinicians of congenital myopathies in the differential diagnosis of floppy infant during neonatal period and to emphasize the importance of muscle biopsy in diagnosis.

Genetic factors that influence short-term neurodevelopmental outcome in term hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathic neonates.

It is difficult to predict outcome in neonates that experience perinatal hypoxic ischaemia. Morbidity and mortality may be affected by genetic factors that augment inflammatory and coagulative responses. This prospective study analysed the effects of proinflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms (tumour necrosis factor-α [TNFA] 308G>A and interleukin-6 [IL6] 174G>C) and prothrombotic factor gene mutations (prothrombin G20210A, factor V Leiden G1691A and methylenetetra hydrofolate reductase [MTHFR] C677T) on the early neurological prognosis in 40 term hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathic neonates. There were significant relationships for Sarnat and Sarnat staging with electroencephalographic findings, transfontanelle ultrasound (US) results, early neonatal outcome and neurological morbidity. Genetic mutations in the prothrombotic proteins, the TNFA 308G>A polymorphism and the cerebrospinal fluid levels of TNF-α protein were not related to clinical stage, electroencephalography, transfontanelle US or neurological status at discharge or at postnatal months 6 and 12. The IL6 174GC genotype demonstrated a protective role, being significantly correlated with normal electroencephalography, transfontanelle US and normal neurological findings at discharge. In conclusion, the IL6 174GC gene polymorphism seems to play a role in determining the risk and/or severity of perinatal cerebral injury.