The aim of this study was to evaluate KL-6 and CC16 levels and their correlation with neurodevelopmental outcome among very low birth weight pre-term infants at 12 months corrected age. This prospective cohort study was performed from 2011 to 2013 by enrolling pre-term neonates of gestational age ≤ 32 weeks and birth weight ≤ 1500 g. Serum KL-6 and CC16 levels were determined 7 days after birth...

OBJECTIVE The neonatal mortality rate (NMR) continues to remain quite high, one important cause being preterm deliveries. The main obstacle in the pathway towards decreasing NMR is identification of babies in need of extra care. To analyze the utility of newborn foot length as a proxy measure for birth weight and gestational age. METHODS A cross-sectional study done in a hospital of eastern I...

We investigate sex-associated effects of preterm birth on cerebral gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes. Preterm children (n=65) and 31 healthy, term control children had usable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data acquired at 8 years of age. Both GM and WM volumes were significantly reduced in the preterm group compared with controls. However, only males with preterm birth had signi...

OBJECTIVES To measure birth weight-specific mortality rates in the Diyala Province of Iraq and to determine if the causes of neonatal death could identify interventions needed to reduce neonatal mortality rates. METHOD We retrospectively compared the outcome of 196 neonates with birth weight 500-2499 g admitted in 2003 with 252 such neonates admitted in 2009. RESULTS The mortality rate in v...

Survival of preterm neonates in developing world has improved. Developing countries lag behind in nutritional management in NICU especially parenteral nutrition (PN). This randomized controlled trial was done to evaluate the effect of aggressive parenteral nutrition on nitrogen retention of sick VLBW and extremely low birth weight (ELBW) babies. From September 2009 to February 2010, total 34 ba...

Over several decades, survival rates of low birth weight (LBW) infants have markedly increased. Following a downward trend from 2007 to 2014, the U.S. low birthweight rate (the percentage of infants born at less than 2,500 grams or 5 lbs., 8 oz.) rose in 2015 to 8.07%, up from 8.00% in 2014. 1 The percentage of very low birthweight (VLBW) infants (less than 1,500 grams) was stable at 1.39% in 2...

Maternal depression and anxiety represent risk factors for the quality of early mother-preterm infant interactions, especially in the case of preterm birth. Despite the presence of many studies on this topic, the comorbidity of depressive and anxious symptoms has not been sufficiently investigated, as well as their relationship with the severity of prematurity and the quality of early interacti...