Polysomnographic indications for surgical intervention in Pierre Robin sequence: acute airway management and follow-up studies after repair and take-down of tongue-lip adhesion.

The major concern for neonates with Pierre Robin sequence is the stability of the airways. The accepted management has been close clinical observation followed by surgical intervention if the airway was felt to be unstable. Six newborns with this diagnosis were admitted for evaluation in a 7-month period. Each underwent transcutaneous oxygen and carbon dioxide monitoring in a resting state. Each infant then was evaluated with infant polysomnography to ascertain the presence of obstructive apnea. Pulse-oximetry was utilized to document the oxygen saturation of each child during the polysomnography. On the basis of these studies, four of the neonates required a tongue-lip adhesion to stabilize the airway. These four infants were reassessed with polysomnography postoperatively, prior to cleft palate repair, following palatoplasty, and after their tongue-lip adhesion was released. This method of evaluation allows early testing of the stability of the airway in a way that augments and confirms the clinical assessment of the infant, allowing appropriate surgical intervention when necessary. This method of evaluation also allows the safe prediction of airway stability following palatoplasty and release of the tongue-lip adhesion.

The association of kernicterus with bacterial infection in the newborn.

A total population of 29,395 neonates cared for in the six-year period from 1971 to 1976 was reviewed for evidence of autopsy-proven kernicterus. A total of 327 neonates died and 232 were autopsied. The only cases of kernicterus occurred in four near-term infants with antemortem proven sepsis. All four of these infants weighed more than 2,200 gm and were delivered after gestations of either 36 or 37 weeks. These cases of kernicterus occurred during a period when more aggressive management of hyperbilirubinemia in low-birth-weight infants had apparently eliminated immaturity as a predisposing factor in the development of kernicterus, uncovering bacterial infection as the major remaining etiologic co-factor.

Neonatal mortality: an analysis of the recent improvement in the United States.

To test the hypothesis that the recent substantial decline in the United States neonatal mortality rate (20.0/1000 in 1950 to 11.6/1000 in 1975) is associated with improvements in perinatal medical care, we examined this change in relation to the two primary components which determine neonatal mortality: birthweight distribution and birthweight-specific mortality. No improvement in the weight distribution of U.S. live births has occurred during this 25-year period, indicating that the change in neonatal mortality is attributable to improved survival for one or more birthweight groups. Decline in the mortality rate in the first 15 years was slow; three-fourths of the decline in the entire 25-year period occurred since 1965. With the exception of perinatal medical care, factors known to affect survival at a given birthweight have not changed in prevalence in the 25-year period. It is a plausible hypothesis that improved perinatal medical care is a major factor in declining neonatal mortality in the U.S.

PIP: The authors test the hypothesis that the recent substantial decline in the U.S. neonatal mortality rate is associated with improvements in perinatal medical care by examining changes in birth weight distribution and birth-weight-specific mortality between 1950 and 1975