A nordic multicenter study on contemporary outcomes of pediatric short bowel syndrome in 208 patients.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Despite advances in the management of short bowel syndrome related intestinal failure (SBS-IF), large-scale contemporary pediatric studies are scarce. The aim of this multicenter study was to assess key outcomes and clinical prognostic factors in a recent Nordic pediatric SBS-IF population. METHODS: Patients with SBS-IF treated during 2010-2019, whose parenteral support (PS) started at age <1 year and continued >60 consecutive days were included and retrospectively reviewed. All six participating centers followed multidisciplinary SBS-IF management. Risk factors for PS dependency, intestinal failure associated liver disease (IFALD) and mortality were assessed with Cox regression and Kaplan Meier analyses. IFALD was defined with serum liver biochemistry levels. RESULTS: Among 208 patients, SBS-IF resulted from NEC in 49%, gastroschisis w/wo atresia in 14%, small bowel atresia in 12%, volvulus in 11%, and other diagnoses in 14%. Median age-adjusted small bowel length was 43% (IQR 21-80%). After median follow up of 4.4 years (IQR 2.5-6.9), enteral autonomy was reached by 76%, none had undergone intestinal transplantation, and overall survival was 96%. Half of deaths (4/8) were caused by septic complications. Although biochemical cholestasis occurred only in 3% at latest follow-up and none of deaths were directly caused by IFALD, elevated liver biochemistry (HR 0.136; P = 0.017) and shorter remaining small bowel (HR 0.941; P = 0.040) predicted mortality. Shorter remaining small bowel and colon, and presence of end-ostomy were the main predictors of PS dependency, but not IFALD. Patients with NEC reached enteral autonomy more efficiently and had decreased incidence of IFALD compared to other etiologies. CONCLUSIONS: Although with current multidisciplinary management, prognosis of pediatric SBS is encouraging, septic complications and IFALD still associated with the remaining low mortality rate.

Rectal temperature in the first five hours after hypoxia-ischemia critically affects neuropathological outcomes in neonatal rats.

BackgroundHyperthermia after hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in newborn infants is associated with worse neurological outcomes. Loss of thermoregulation may also be associated with greater injury.MethodsIn the postnatal-day 7 (P7) rat, the effect of 5 h of graded hyperthermia (38 °C or 39 °C) immediately after unilateral HI was compared with normothermia (NT, 37 °C) and therapeutic hypothermia (TH, 32 °C). Early (negative geotaxis) and late (staircase test) behavioral testing was performed, as well as neuropathology scoring in adulthood. Separately, P7 rats were exposed to HI, and individual nesting temperatures were monitored before analysis of neuropathology at P14.ResultsMortality increased as temperature was increased from 38 °C (0%) to 39 °C (50%) after HI. Hyperthermia also resulted in early behavioral deficits compared with NT. In adulthood, pathology scores in the thalamus, basal ganglia, cortex, and hippocampus increased as post-hypoxic temperature increased above NT. Significant global neuroprotection was seen in the TH group. However, no significant difference was seen between HI groups in the staircase test. One hour after HI, the core temperature of pups was inversely correlated with global pathology scores at P14.ConclusionEarly temperature is a significant determinant of injury after experimental HI. Spontaneous decreases in core temperature after HI may confound neuroprotection studies.

Racemic adrenaline and inhalation strategies in acute bronchiolitis.

BACKGROUND: Acute bronchiolitis in infants frequently results in hospitalization, but there is no established consensus on inhalation therapy--either the type of medication or the frequency of administration--that may be of value. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of inhaled racemic adrenaline as compared with inhaled saline and the strategy for frequency of inhalation (on demand vs. fixed schedule) in infants hospitalized with acute bronchiolitis. METHODS: In this eight-center, randomized, double-blind trial with a 2-by-2 factorial design, we compared inhaled racemic adrenaline with inhaled saline and on-demand inhalation with fixed-schedule inhalation (up to every 2 hours) in infants (<12 months of age) with moderate-to-severe acute bronchiolitis. An overall clinical score of 4 or higher (on a scale of 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating more severe illness) was required for study inclusion. Any use of oxygen therapy, nasogastric-tube feeding, or ventilatory support was recorded. The primary outcome was the length of the hospital stay, with analyses conducted according to the intention-to-treat principle. RESULTS: The mean age of the 404 infants included in the study was 4.2 months, and 59.4% were boys. Length of stay, use of oxygen supplementation, nasogastric-tube feeding, ventilatory support, and relative improvement in the clinical score from baseline (preinhalation) were similar in the infants treated with inhaled racemic adrenaline and those treated with inhaled saline (P>0.1 for all comparisons). On-demand inhalation, as compared with fixed-schedule inhalation, was associated with a significantly shorter estimated mean length of stay--47.6 hours (95% confidence interval [CI], 30.6 to 64.6) versus 61.3 hours (95% CI, 45.4 to 77.2; P=0.01) - as well as less use of oxygen supplementation (in 38.3% of infants vs. 48.7%, P=0.04), less use of ventilatory support (in 4.0% vs. 10.8%, P=0.01), and fewer inhalation treatments (12.0 vs. 17.0, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In the treatment of acute bronchiolitis in infants, inhaled racemic adrenaline is not more effective than inhaled saline. However, the strategy of inhalation on demand appears to be superior to that of inhalation on a fixed schedule. (Funded by Medicines for Children; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00817466; EudraCT number, 2009-012667-34.).