ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in early life are associated with adverse effects. Preterm infants are at risk for developing ID(A). Considering that not every preterm infant develops ID(A) and the potential risk of iron overload, indiscriminate iron supplementation in late preterm infants is debatable. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a locally implemented guideline regarding individualized iron supplementation on the prevalence of ID(A) at the postnatal age of 4-6 months in Dutch preterm infants born between 32 and 35 weeks of gestational age (GA). METHODS: An observational study comparing the prevalence of ID(A) at the postnatal age of 4-6 months in Dutch preterm infants born between 32 and 35 weeks of GA before (i.e. PRE-guideline group) and after (i.e. POST-guideline group) implementation of the local guideline. RESULTS: Out of 372 eligible preterm infants, 110 were included (i.e. 72 and 38 in the PRE- and POST-guideline group, respectively). ID- and IDA-prevalence rates at 4-6 months of age in the PRE-guideline group were 36.1% and 13.9%, respectively, and in the POST-guideline group, 21.1% and 7.9%, respectively, resulting in a significant decrease in ID-prevalence of 15% and IDA-prevalence of 6%. No indication of iron overload was found. CONCLUSION: An individualized iron supplementation guideline for preterm infants born between 32 and 35 weeks GA reduces ID(A) at the postnatal age of 4-6 months without indication of iron overload.
Subject(s)
Anemia, Iron-Deficiency , Iron Deficiencies , Iron Overload , Infant , Female , Infant, Newborn , Humans , Iron/therapeutic use , Infant, Premature , Gestational Age , Ferritins , Anemia, Iron-Deficiency/epidemiology , Anemia, Iron-Deficiency/prevention & control , Iron Overload/drug therapy , Iron Overload/epidemiology , Dietary SupplementsABSTRACT
AIMS: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of gentamicin in neonates is recommended for safe and effective dosing and is currently performed by plasma sampling, which is an invasive and painful procedure. In this study, feasibility of a non-invasive gentamicin TDM strategy using saliva was investigated. METHODS: This was a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study including 54 neonates. Any neonate treated with intravenous gentamicin was eligible for the study. Up to eight saliva samples were collected per patient at different time-points. Gentamicin levels in saliva were determined with liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). A population pharmacokinetic (PK) model was developed using nonlinear mixed-effects modelling (NONMEM) to describe the relation between gentamicin concentrations in saliva and plasma. Monte Carlo simulations with a representative virtual cohort (n = 3000) were performed to evaluate the probability of target attainment with saliva versus plasma TDM. RESULTS: Plasma PK was adequately described with an earlier published model. An additional saliva compartment describing the salivary gentamicin concentrations was appended to the model with first-order input (k13 0.023 h-1 ) and first-order elimination (k30 0.169 h-1 ). Inter-individual variability of k30 was 38%. Postmenstrual age (PMA) correlated negatively with both k13 and k30 . Simulations demonstrated that TDM with four saliva samples was accurate in 81% of the simulated cases versus 94% when performed with two plasma samples and 87% when performed with one plasma sample. CONCLUSION: TDM of gentamicin using saliva is feasible and the difference in precision between saliva and plasma TDM may not be clinically relevant, especially for premature neonates.
Subject(s)
Drug Monitoring , Gentamicins , Anti-Bacterial Agents , Chromatography, Liquid , Drug Monitoring/methods , Gentamicins/pharmacokinetics , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Prospective Studies , Saliva/chemistry , Tandem Mass SpectrometryABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: As neonatal central diabetes insipidus is rare in preterm neonates with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), very little is known about dosing and the route of administration of desmopressin treatment. CASE REPORT: We present a preterm neonate born at 29 weeks' gestation. Within 24 h, she developed bilateral IVH with subsequent post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus. On the 3rd postnatal day, she developed diabetes insipidus for which she was intranasally administered 0.2 mg desmopressin. This resulted in oliguria with several hours of anuria and a 25-point drop in sodium levels within 15 h. CONCLUSION: The determination of the desmopressin dose in a preterm neonate is a challenge and there is no consistent literature about the dosing or the route of administration. We suggest starting with a low dose of intranasal desmopressin (0.05-0.1 µg) and titrate in accordance with clinical and laboratory parameters.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Hemorrhage/drug therapy , Deamino Arginine Vasopressin/administration & dosage , Diabetes Insipidus/drug therapy , Infant, Premature, Diseases/drug therapy , Administration, Intranasal , Cerebral Hemorrhage/complications , Female , Humans , Hydrocephalus/etiology , Infant, Newborn , Infant, PrematureABSTRACT
Misuse of organophosphate insecticides, even in case of domestic application, can be life threatening. We report the case of siblings admitted with respiratory distress, pinpoint pupils and slurred speech. The symptoms appear after spraying the skin by insecticides. Plasma pseudocholinesterase level appeared to be very low, consistent with acute intoxication with organophosphate insecticide.Management of organophosphate poisoning consists of airway management, administration of oxygen and fluid, as well as atropine in increasing doses and pralidoxime. Decontamination of the patient's skin and the removal of the patient's clothes are mandatory in order to avoid recontamination of the patient as well as the surrounding healthcare personnel.Plasma pseudocholinesterase analysis is a cheap and an easy indicator for organophosphate insecticides intoxications and could be used for diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
