Although the infant mortality rate in Louisiana has decreased, Louisiana still has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the nation. Two-thirds of the infant deaths occur in the neonatal period (birth through 28 days of age). The primary factor associated with death in the neonatal period is low birth weight. However, the likelihood of survival for low birth weight infants can be influen...

PURPOSE Thyroid dysfunction is common in preterm infants. Congenital hypothyroidism causes neurodevelopmental impairment, which is preventable if properly treated. This study was conducted to describe the characteristics of thyroid dysfunction in very low birth weight infants (VLBWIs), evaluate risk factors of hypothyroidism, and suggest the reassessment of thyroid function with an initially no...

When a very low birth-weight, pre-term infant is compared with a foetus o i equivalent gestational age in utero it becomes apparent that he is suffering from malnutrition, and is at times close to death from starvation. There is evidence for this from a variety of sources and it is my purpose to present some of this evidence and to consider the problems we have encountered with pre-term babies ...

background systemic carnitine deficiency may present with apnea, hypotonia, and poor growth. premature infants often manifest these symptoms and are at risk of developing carnitine deficiency because of immaturity of the biosynthetic pathway, lack of sufficient predelivery transplacental transport, and lack of sufficient exogenous supplementation. objective this study was undertaken to examine ...

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To the Editor: Beardsall et al. (Oct. 30 issue)1 report the results of the Neonatal Insulin Replacement Therapy in Europe (NIRTURE) trial, which investigated the effects of a fixed-dose insulin (0.05 U per kilogram of body weight per hour) and glucose (20% dextrose) infusion as compared with usual care in very-low-birth-weight infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU). Beardsall and col...

INTRODUCTION Preterm birth is the most important univariant risk factor of neonatal mortality. Assessment of risk factors affecting mortality in preterm infants with very low birth weight is important for the treatment of this highly vulnerable population. OBJECTIVE Detection of risk factors for neonatal mortality in very low birth weight premature infants. METHODS The current study was con...

IMPORTANCE Thrombocytopenia and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) are common among very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. Survey results suggest that US neonatologists frequently administer platelet transfusions to VLBW infants with mild to moderate thrombocytopenia. OBJECTIVES To characterize platelet transfusion practices in US neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), to determine whether seve...

BACKGROUND Infection is a major complication of preterm infants, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. We recently reported the results of a multicenter trial of dexamethasone initiated at 14 or 28 days in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants who were at risk for chronic lung disease; the results showed an increase in nosocomial bacteremia in the group receiving dexamethasone. This st...

For very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, diagnostic and therapeutic decisions widely depend on hematological values. Although ethnic differences for hematologic parameters have been reported, few studies have been reported for Korean VLBW infants. This study aimed at defining the hematological reference values for medical research and clinical practice. Retrospectively we selected 149 infants ...