Exercise capacity, daily activity, and severity of fatigue in term born young adults after neonatal respiratory failure.

Little is known about long-term effects of neonatal intensive care on exercise capacity, physical activity, and fatigue in term borns. We determined these outcomes in 57 young adults, treated for neonatal respiratory failure; 27 of them had congenital diaphragmatic hernia with lung hypoplasia (group 1) and 30 had normal lung development (group 2). Patients in group 2 were age-matched, with similar gestational age and birth weight, and similar neonatal intensive care treatment as patients in group 1. All patients were born before the era of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, nitric oxide administration, and high frequency ventilation. Exercise capacity was measured by cycle ergometry, daily physical activity with an accelerometry-based activity monitor, and fatigue by the fatigue severity scale. Median (range) VO2peak in mL/kg/min was 35.4 (19.6-55.0) in group 1 and 37.6 (15.7-52.7) in group 2. There was a between-group P-value of 0.65 for exercise capacity. Daily activity and fatigue were also similar in both groups. So, residual lung hypoplasia did not play an important role in this cohort. There were no significant associations between exercise capacity and perinatal characteristics. Future studies need to elucidate whether exercise capacity is impaired in patients with more severe lung hypoplasia who nowadays survive.

Deterioration of exercise capacity after neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) provides life support in acute reversible cardiorespiratory failure. Assessment of long-term morbidity is essential to confirm survival advantage. This study aimed to assess exercise capacity in the first 12 yrs of life after neonatal ECMO, and to evaluate the effect of primary diagnosis, lung function or perinatal characteristics on exercise capacity. 120 children who, as neonates, underwent ECMO performed 191 reliable exercise tests according to the Bruce treadmill protocol at ages 5, 8 and/or 12 yrs between 2001 and 2010. Primary diagnoses were meconium aspiration syndrome (n=66), congenital diaphragmatic hernia (n=18) and other diagnoses (n=36). At ages 5, 8 and 12 yrs, ANOVA resulted in mean ± se standard deviation score endurance time on the treadmill of -0.5 ± 0.1, -1.1 ± 0.1, and -1.5 ± 0.2, respectively, all significantly less than zero (p<0.001). Exercise capacity declined significantly over time irrespective of the primary diagnosis. Neonates treated with ECMO are at risk of decreased exercise capacity at school age. We therefore propose prolonged follow-up. Proactive advice on sports participation or referral to a physical therapist is recommended, especially when either the parents or the children themselves report impaired exercise capacity.

Exercise capacity in Dutch children: new reference values for the Bruce treadmill protocol.

The Bruce treadmill protocol is suitable for children 4 years of age and older. Dutch reference values were established in 1987. We considered that children's exercise capacity has deteriorated due to changes in physical activity patterns and eating habits. We determined new reference values and evaluated determinants of exercise capacity. Healthy Dutch children (n=267) aged 6-13 years participated in this cross-sectional observational study. The maximal endurance time on the treadmill was the criterion of exercise capacity. Furthermore, we obtained data on anthropometry, smoking habits, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sports participation, and school transport habits. The maximal endurance time for children aged up till 10 was lower (up to 1.6 and 1.4 min in girls and boys, respectively) than previously published. Body mass index was negatively, and intense sports participation was positively associated with endurance time (beta=-0.412 and 0.789, respectively; P<0.001). In conclusion, exercise capacity seems to have deteriorated in Dutch children aged up till 10 years whereas the values from the older children are remarkably similar to those from the previous study.

[Neurological defects and developmental disorders following neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: results of a follow-up study after 5 years]. / Neurologische afwijkingen en ontwikkelingsstoornissen na extracorporele membraanoxygenatie van pasgeborenen: resultaten van een follow-uponderzoek na 5 jaar.

OBJECTIVE: Descriptive study of the development of children 5 years after neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). DESIGN: Descriptive. METHOD: 98 treated children were subjected to a paediatric, neurological, psychological, physiotherapeutic and logopaedic examination. The children came from 2 Dutch ECMO-centres (the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam and the University Medical Centre St Radboud in Nijmegen, The Netherlands). RESULTS: Neurological disorders were found in 17 of the 98 investigated children, and in 6 cases these were serious. Among the remaining 92 children, 24 had motor disorders and 11 had delayed cognitive development. The average IQ (100.5) was within the normal range. CONCLUSION: A significant proportion ofthe children that had been treated with ECMO had long-term morbidity in the form of neurological defects and developmental disorders.