Therapeutic effect of turquoise versus blue light with equal irradiance in preterm infants with jaundice.

AIM: To compare the efficiency of turquoise light with that of TL52 blue in treatment of preterm infants with jaundice at the same level of body irradiance. METHODS: Infants with gestational age 28-37 weeks and non-haemolytic hyperbilirubinemia were treated for 24 h with either turquoise light (OSRAM L18W/860 fluorescent lamps) or blue light (Philips TL20W/52 fluorescent lamps). The concentrations of serum total bilirubin and bilirubin isomers were measured by the Vitros routine method and by HPLC, respectively. RESULTS: The decrease in serum concentrations of total bilirubin, total bilirubin isomers and the toxic Z,Z-bilirubin was greatest for infants treated with turquoise light. Further, the increase in Z,E-bilirubin was smaller and there was a trend towards a higher rise in E,Z-bilirubin. CONCLUSIONS: Turquoise light has a greater bilirubin reducing effect than TL52 blue light with equal irradiance, expressed both by serum total bilirubin, total bilirubin isomers and Z,Z-bilirubin, i.e. the turquoise spectral range is more efficient than the blue. This is in accordance with deeper penetration into the skin, lower production of the Z,E-bilirubin and greater production of E,Z-bilirubin and lumirubin, in infants under turquoise light. This suggests, given equal irradiances, that light in the turquoise spectral range is preferable to the TL52 blue in treatment of newborn jaundiced infants.

N-acetylcysteine does not prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia in immature infants: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether N-acetylcysteine (NAC) infusion during the first week of life reduces the risk of death or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in infants with extremely low birth weight. Study design In a Nordic multicenter, double-blind trial, infants (n=391) weighing 500 to 999 g and on ventilator or nasal continuous positive airway pressure were randomized before the age of 36 hours to receive NAC 16 to 32 mg/kg/d (n=194) or placebo (n=197) intravenously for 6 days. Primary end points were death or BPD, defined as supplementary oxygen requirement at 36 weeks' gestational age. RESULTS: There was no difference in the combined incidence of the primary end points death or BPD, 51% vs. 49%, between the NAC group and control group. Also similar was the incidence of BPD in survivors at 36 weeks' gestational age, 40% vs. 40%, and the mean oxygen requirement at the age of 28 days, 31.2% vs. 30.7%, respectively. The severity of BPD was similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: A 6-day course of intravenous N-acetylcysteine at the dosage used does not prevent BPD or death in infants with extremely low birth weight.