Feeding Desaturation and Effects of Orocutaneous Stimulation in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants

PURPOSE: Feeding desaturation is a common problem among preterm infants which can result in prolonged hospital stays, long-term feeding difficulties and growth delay. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of premature infants with feeding desaturation and to examine the effect of orocutaneous stimulation on oral feeding. METHODS: During the first phase of this study, 125 extremely low birth weight infants were reviewed retrospectively. Characteristics between infants with feeding desaturation (n=34) and those without feeding desaturation (n=91) were examined. During the second phase, 29 infants recruited from March, 2009 to May, 2010 were subjected to orocutaneous stimulation. The results of orocutaneous stimulation were compared to a control group (n=81). RESULTS: The first phase of the study revealed that extremely low birth weight infants with feeding desaturation were significantly lower in gestational ages at birth, and had lower 5 minute apgar scores, more gastroesophageal refluxes and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Infants without feeding desaturation reached full enteral feeding significantly earlier and showed shorter duration of hospital stay. At the second phase, infants in the intervention group showed shorter days to achieve initiation of bottle feeding, shorter days in achievement of full bottle feeding, last episodes of feeding desaturation and length of hospital stay compared to the control group of similar characteristics. CONCLUSION: Orocutaneous stimulation among extremely low birth weight infants results in earlier achievement of full bottle feedings without episodes of feeding desaturation hence shortens the length of hospital stay.

Feeding Desaturation and Effects of Orocutaneous Stimulation in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants

PURPOSE: Feeding desaturation is a common problem among preterm infants which can result in prolonged hospital stays, long-term feeding difficulties and growth delay. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of premature infants with feeding desaturation and to examine the effect of orocutaneous stimulation on oral feeding. METHODS: During the first phase of this study, 125 extremely low birth weight infants were reviewed retrospectively. Characteristics between infants with feeding desaturation (n=34) and those without feeding desaturation (n=91) were examined. During the second phase, 29 infants recruited from March, 2009 to May, 2010 were subjected to orocutaneous stimulation. The results of orocutaneous stimulation were compared to a control group (n=81). RESULTS: The first phase of the study revealed that extremely low birth weight infants with feeding desaturation were significantly lower in gestational ages at birth, and had lower 5 minute apgar scores, more gastroesophageal refluxes and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Infants without feeding desaturation reached full enteral feeding significantly earlier and showed shorter duration of hospital stay. At the second phase, infants in the intervention group showed shorter days to achieve initiation of bottle feeding, shorter days in achievement of full bottle feeding, last episodes of feeding desaturation and length of hospital stay compared to the control group of similar characteristics. CONCLUSION: Orocutaneous stimulation among extremely low birth weight infants results in earlier achievement of full bottle feedings without episodes of feeding desaturation hence shortens the length of hospital stay.

Death in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

PURPOSE: Death is an important problem for physicians and parents in neonatal intensive care unit. This study was intended to evaluate the mortality rate, causes of death, and the change of mortality rate by year for infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. METHODS: We retrospectively surveyed the medical records of the infants who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at Asan Medical Center and who died before discharge between 1998 and 2007. Gestational age, birth weight, gender, time to death and the underlying diseases related to the causes of infant deaths and obtained from the medical records and analyzed according to year. RESULTS: A total of 6,289 infants were admitted and 264 infants died during the study period. The overall mortality rate was 4.2%. For very low and extremely low birth weight infants, the mortality rate was 10.6% and 21.4%, respectively. There was no significant change in the mortality rate during the study period. Prematurity related complications and congenital anomalies were the conditions most frequently associated with death in the neonatal intensive care unit. of the infant deaths 37.1% occurred within the first week of life. CONCLUSION: Even though a remarkable improvement in neonatal intensive care has been achieved in recent years, the overall mortality rate has not changed. To reduce the mortality rate, it is important to control sepsis and prevent premature births. The first postnatal week is a critical period for deaths in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Causative Agents and Antimicrobial Sensitivity of Neonatal Sepsis: Ten-year Experience in One Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

PURPOSE:To identify trends in causative bacterial organisms for neonatal sepsis and antimicrobial susceptibilities over 10 years in one neonatal intensive care unit. METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed the cases of culture-proven neonatal sepsis between January 1998 and December 2007. The 10-year period was divided into two phases (phase I, 1998-2002; phase II, 2003-2007) to distinguish the differences during the entire period. RESULTS:Total 350 episodes of neonatal sepsis were identified in 315 neonates. The common pathogens of early-onset sepsis were S. epidermidis, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and E. cloacae in phase I, and S. epidermidis and E. cloacae in phase II. In cases of late- onset sepsis, coagulase negative Staphylococcus, S. aureus, and K. pneumoniae were isolated frequently in both phases. The incidence of sepsis caused by multi-drug resistant organisms decreased with strict infection control. Gram positive organisms showed 0-20% susceptibility to penicillin, ampicillin, and cefotaxime in both phases. Sensitivity to amikacin for Enterobacter spp. increased, whereas P. aeruginosa showed decreased sensitivity in phase II. Between 50% and 60% of other gram negative bacteria, except P. aeruginosa, were susceptible to cefotaxime in phase II in contrast to phase I. Greater than 80% of gram negative bacteria were sensitive to imipenem except P. aeruginosa and ciprofloxacin in both phases. CONCLUSION:The trend in causative microorganisms and antimicrobial susceptibilities can be used as a guideline for selection of appropriate antibiotics. A particular attention should be paid to infection control, especially to reduce sepsis caused by multi-drug resistant organisms.

A Case of Antiphospholipid Syndrome Presenting as Pulmonary Infarction and Multiple Arterial Thromboembolism / 소아알레르기및호흡기학회지

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a noninflammatory autoimmune disorder characterized by the association of arterial and/or venous thrombosis, recurrent fetal loss and elevated titres of antiphospholipid antibodies, namely lupus anticoagulant (LAC) and/or anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL). It can either occur as a free-standing condition (primary APS) or be associated with another autoimmune disease (secondary APS), mainly systemic lupus erythematosus. The precise pathogenesis of thrombosis in APS in unknown. For children with unexplainable venous or arterial thrombosis, APS should be considered. The diagnosis of APS in children requires a clinical event including venous or arterial thrombosis or immune thrombocytopenia and a laboratory abnormality including positive LAC test or positive aCL antibody test, moderate or high titer IgG. The laboratory abnormality should persist for at least 2 months. We report a 7-year-old girl who had pulmonary embolism and multiple arterial thrombosis caused by primary APS. The laboratory abnormality was positive LAC and beta2-glycoprotein I. She was treated successfully with low molecualr weight heparin (LMWH). After recovery, she was continuously treated with subcutaneous LMWH for another 3 months and switched to oral warfarin. She was symptom-free through 3 years of follow-up.

A Case of Systemic Castleman's Disease in a Child and Successful Treatment with Oral Prednisolone / 소아과

Castleman's disease is a rare non-neoplastic lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. It is divided into three histologic subtypes; hyaline-vascular(HV), plasma cell(PC) type and mixed type (HV-PC). It has two clinical expressions. The localized form, which presents as a slow growing mass, has a relatively benign clinical course. The multicentric form is multilocated and holds significant morbidity. The mainstay of treatment of the localized form is surgical resection. The multicentric form requires medical treatment comprising prednisolone and other immunosuppressor drugs. The disease in children seems to have a more favorable course than in adults. We report a 13-year- old boy with Castleman's disease of multicentric form who was successfully treated with prednisolone and intravenous immunoglobulin.

A Clinical Study of Acute Poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis in Children, from 1994 to 2003 / 소아과

PURPOSE: Acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) is a common form of glomerulonephritis in children. Most patients recover completely after the acute phase but a few patients have acute complications or progress to chronic renal disease. In recent years, the frequency of APSGN has been was decreasing but is still common in children. So we studied the clinical characteristics of APSGN from 1994 to 2003 and compared it with past studies. METHODS: We studied 105 patients who were diagnosed with APSGN in the Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center between January 1994 and December 2003, with a retrospective chart review. RESULTS: The mean age was 8.5+/-2.6 years. The male to female ratio was 2: 1. Average annual incidence was 10.5+/-4.9 most patients (60.0 percent) occurred from October to January. Edema was seen in 82 cases (78.1 percent), gross hematuria in 70 cases (66.7 percent), hypertension in 50 cases (47.6 percent) and oliguria in 22 cases (20.9 percent). Microscopic hematuria was seen in 105 cases (100 percent), positive ASO in 99 cases (94.2 percent), proteinuria in 67 cases (63.8 percent) and azotemia in 38 cases (36.2 percent). Serum complement 3 (C3) level decreased in 96 cases and returned to normal within eight weeks in 70 patients (75.3 percent). Kidney biopsy was carried out in 22 cases. Most acute symptoms subsided within 2 weeks of onset. CONCLUSION: We concluded that there was no significant difference between clinical features of recent and past APSGN in children, and short term prognoses were excellent.

Parvovirus B19 Infection in Two Korean Pediatric Kidney Transplant Patients

Parvovirus B19(PV B19) is a nonenveloped single-stranded DNA virus that causes a wide variety of diseases ranging from benign childhood infection such as slapped-cheek rash(fifth disease) to life threatening diseases such as hydrops fetalis in fetuses or aplastic anemic crises in patients with hemolytic anemia. In immunocompromised hosts including organ transplant recipients, this infection can cause chronic anemia. Recently, the reports of cases of PV B19 infection have been increasing in transplant recipients and most reported cases of PV B19 infection-associated anemia in renal transplant recipients were successfully treated with intravenous immunoglobulin infusion. We experienced two cases of aplastic anemia caused by PV B19 infection in pediatric renal transplant recipients. The patients were an 8- year-old boy and 12-year-old boy who received allograft kidneys from their mothers. Anemia developed 2 weeks after transplantation and their serum was positive for PV B19 PCR. They were treated with 400 mg/kg of intravenous immunoglobulin(IVIG) for 5 consecutive days. In one of the case, anemia was corrected promptly after the first 5-day course of IVIG therapy but in the other, anemia persisted but responded to the second course of IVIG therapy. One year later, the patients have normal hematocrit levels and stable renal function. These are the first cases of PV B19 infection treated successfully with IVIG in pediatric renal transplant recipients in Korea.

Airway Compression or Airway Anomaly Causing Respiratory Symptoms in Infants and Children with Cardiovascular Diseases / 소아과

PURPOSE: Infants and children with cardiovascular diseases often present with respiratory symptoms. However, missed or delayed evaluation for potential airway problem may complicate overall prognosis. The aim of this study is to determine the clinical characteristics of these patients and explore the cause of airway problem. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 64 patients (M: F=33: 31, mean age: 6.3+/-7.5 months) whose airway problems were proven by computed tomography or bronchoscopy in perioperative periods at the Asan Medical Center from January 1997 to June 2004. Patients were divided into two groups based on the duration of ventilator care: 7 days (group 2: 41 cases, M: F=23: 18). RESULTS: The patients in group 2 significantly developed more post-operative respiratory symptoms than group 1 (P< 0.001) and had more airway problems including extrinsic obstruction, intrinsic anomaly, and combined problem than group 1 although not significantly different (P=0.082). Among underlying diseases, the most common diseases were vascular anomaly (26.2 percent) and aortic arch anomaly (26.2 percent) in group 1 and pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect (22.4 percent) in group 2. The most frequent respiratory symptoms were recurrent wheezing pre-operatively and failure of ventilator weaning post-operatively. The major types of airway anomaly were tracheomalacia and tracheal stenosis (in each case 18.2 percent). Nineteen patients with persistent airway problems underwent aortopexy or other vascular correction. Of the 19 patients, 13 (68.4 percent) were improved, but 2 failed in weaning ventilator and 4 died of non-airway problems. CONCLUSION: Early evaluation and treatment for potential airway problems may affect natural or surgical prognosis in patients with cardiovascular diseases presenting with respiratory symptoms.

A Case of Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma of Bronchus / 소아알레르기및호흡기학회지

Primary bronchial neoplasms in children, especially malignant lesions, are extremely rare. We report a case of a 10-year old boy with intermediate-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the right intermediate bronchus, presenting as collapse and bronchiectasis after pneumonia. He was diagnosed by bronchoscopic biopsy. The lobectomy was performed. The patient is in good condition 1 year after operation. All reported cases of bronchial mucoepidermoid tumors in children had histologically low or intermediate grade(well differentiated) variety with a benign clinical course. The optimal surgical therapy for bronchial mucoepidermoid tumors is identical. There must be total removal of either mass with the sacrifice of as little normal lung as possible.