Subject(s)
Hernia, Diaphragmatic/diagnostic imaging , Streptococcal Infections/complications , Hernia, Diaphragmatic/complications , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Liver/diagnostic imaging , Male , Radionuclide Imaging , Sepsis/complications , Spleen/diagnostic imaging , Streptococcus agalactiae , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Early weight-change patterns were studied in 101 passively addicted neonates. Newborns showing mild abstinence and not requiring pharmacologic treatment lost an average of 4.0% of birth weight, reached a weight nadir on day 3, and regained birth weight by days 7 to 8. Newborns treated with either paregoric or phenobarbital for more severe signs of abstinence lost an average of 6.3% of birth weight, reached a nadir on days 6 to 7, and regained birth weight only by days 13 to 14. Despite comparable birth weights and energy intakes, treated newborns weighed 95 g less than untreated neonates on day 10 when the untreated neonates were discharged. In light of abnormal early weight-change patterns seen with more severe abstinence, both strict control of abstinence and provision of additional individualized nutritional support seem warranted.
Subject(s)
Body Weight , Substance-Related Disorders , Birth Weight , Energy Intake , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Male , Maternal-Fetal Exchange , Opium/therapeutic use , Phenobarbital/therapeutic use , PregnancyABSTRACT
Neurologic signs dominate the manifestations of the neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). To help delineate this dysfunction, peripheral nerve conduction studies (NCS) were made in 25 neonates born to methadone-maintained mothers; 12 of the mothers abused other controlled substances concomitantly. Median and common peroneal motor nerve conduction velocities (NCV) in these infants were normal, both at three to seven days and three to four weeks of age, and were unaffected by maternal drug intake pattern, severity of neonatal abstinence symptoms, treatment with either camphorated tincture of opium or phenobarbital, intrauterine growth retardation, or abstinence-associated seizurer. Electromyographic findings were normal in 21/23 infants; two others showed minimal partial denervation, characterized by fibrillations and positive sharp waves. NCV in the NAS may enhance gestational age assessment and therefore increase validity of neurobehavioral follow-up. Our studies continue to point to a central rather than a peripheral motor dysfunction exhibited by passively addicted infants at birth, which may persist on two-to-five-year follow-up.
