BACKGROUND To determine the efficacy and safety of early supplementation with 800 IU of vitamin D in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. METHODS Sixty-six infants with a birth weight less than 1500 g admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Of these, 52 infants were eligible and received 800 IU/day vitamin D from 2 weeks of age. We examined 25-hydroxyvitamin-D (25[OH]D) levels from cor...

Purpose Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the leading cause of blindness in children worldwide. This study aimed to determine the incidence and perinatal risk factors for ROP in very low-birth-weight (VLBW) Chinese infants. Methods A retrospective study of the medical records of 504 VLBW infants screened for ROP from 2012 to 2015 was performed in West China Second University Hospital. VLBW ...

Dr Kantarowska and colleagues have brought welcome attention to the benefits of donor human milk for very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight <1500 g) infants.1 Their intriguing study examines the relationship between the availability of donor human milk at the institutional level and: (1) rates of breastfeeding (provision of any breastmilk) at discharge among VLBW infants and (2) in-hospital ...

The relations of exercise, employment, and other daily activities during pregnancy with pregnancy outcomes were examined using data from the Missouri Maternal and Infant Health Survey. Maternal surveys were available for the following singleton birth categories: 450 fetal deaths; 782 very low birth weight (VLBW, < 1,500 g); 802 moderately low birth weight (MLBW, 1,500-2,499 g); and 794 normal b...

METHODS Thirty-six VLBW infants who underwent F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) brain PET and MRI were prospectively enrolled, while infants with evidence of parenchymal brain injury on MRI were excluded. The regional glucose metabolic ratio and asymmetry index were calculated. The asymmetry index more than 10% (right > left asymmetry) or less than -10% (left > right asymmetry) were defined as...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Gastric acidity is a major nonimmune defense mechanism against infections. The objective of this study was to investigate whether ranitidine treatment in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants is associated with an increased risk of infections, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and fatal outcome. METHODS Newborns with birth weight between 401 and 1500 g or gestational a...

BACKGROUND Calprotectin is a cytosolic component of neutrophils. Fecal calprotectin (FC) level is a useful marker for exacerbation of inflammatory bowel disease in children. FC may be a useful marker for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). OBJECTIVE To determine normal baseline levels of FC and observe dynamic changes of FC levels over the first postnatal month in very low birth weight (VLBW) in...

Very low birth weight (VLBW) children are at high risk of perinatal white matter injury, which, when subtle, may not be seen using conventional magnetic resonance imaging. The relationship between clinical findings and fractional anisotropy (FA) measurements in white matter of adolescents born prematurely with VLBW was studied in 34 subjects (age = 15 years, birth weight </=1500 g) and 47 age-m...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the independent contribution of birth weight to asthma prevalence among children younger than 4 years in the United States and to compare the magnitude of its effect on asthma between African American and white children. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis using the 1988 National Maternal-Infant Health Survey and 1991 Longitudinal Follow-up Survey. SETTING United States. ...

Clinical trials evaluating the potential benefit of anticoagulant treatment in pregnant women with inherited thrombophilia are based on the observation that a genetic predisposition to thrombosis is associated with frequent abortions and preterm birth. It was the aim of our study to delineate the impact of genetic polymorphisms with prothrombotic and antithrombotic effects on the occurrence of ...