The postnatal development of ventilatory reflexes originating from bronchopulmonary receptors was assessed in preterm vs. full-term lambs. Ventilation and arterial pressure were repeatedly measured in 10 preterm (gestational age, 132 days) and 7 full-term lambs without sedation from day 1 to day 42. The Hering-Breuer inhibitory reflex (slowly adapting stretch receptors) was assessed by the incr...

BACKGROUND A previous study showed greater adhesion by platelets of healthy full term infants to subendothelial extracellular matrix (ECM) under flow conditions compared with healthy adult platelets. AIM To investigate the adhesion and aggregation of platelets from preterm infants on ECM under defined shear conditions. METHODS In vitro platelet function was investigated in 106 preterm infan...

There are well-established morbidities associated with preterm birth including respiratory, neurocognitive and developmental disorders. However several others have recently emerged that characterise an 'aged' phenotype in the preterm infant by term-equivalent age. These include hypertension, insulin resistance and altered body fat distribution. Evidence shows that these morbidities persist into...

BACKGROUND Pre-term infants who develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are at risk of postnatal growth failure. It has been reported that energy expenditure is higher in infants with BPD than in those without BPD. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether increasing the enteral energy intake of pre-term infants with BPD can improve post-natal growth. METHODS This prospective, non-randomi...

Endocrine control of cardiovascular function is probably immature in the preterm infant; thus, it may contribute to the relative ineffectiveness of current adrenergic treatments for preterm cardiovascular compromise. This study aimed to determine the cardiovascular and hormonal responses to stress in the preterm piglet. Piglets were delivered by cesarean section either preterm (97 of 115 days) ...

OBJECTIVE To assess whether women with a history of preterm birth, independent on the presence of prelabour rupture of the membranes (PROM) and growth deviation of the newborn, are more likely to develop preeclampsia with preterm or preterm birth in a subsequent pregnancy. METHODS We conducted a population-based cohort study, based on Medical Birth Registry of Norway between 1967 and 2012, in...

Background: Late-preterm infants (34-36+6 weeks’ gestation) are often believed to have no higher risks for morbidity and mortality than term infants. This study aims to evaluate the neurodevelopmental outcome of late preterm infants at 12 months of age, compared to term infants. Methods: Neurodevelopmental assessment was administered using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development. Eighty particip...

BACKGROUND Different factors contribute to the onset of labor at term. In animal models onset of labor is characterized by an inflammatory response. The role of intrauterine inflammation, although implicated in preterm birth, is not yet established in human term labor. We hypothesized that intrauterine inflammation at term is associated with spontaneous onset of labor. METHODS/RESULTS In two ...

Introduction: Prematurity remains the main cause of mortality and morbidity in infants and a problem in the care of pregnant women world-wide. This study describes the risk factors for having a live preterm delivery in Bandar Abbas Shariati Hospital. Methods: In this case-control study, we studied 300 neonates who were borned in Shariati hospital in 2011 and divided them into two groups: case g...

Our aim was to investigate whether a genetic variation in the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 gene might be associated with preterm birth. In this case-control study we evaluated the G/A polymorphism (rs2267717) in intron 2 of the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 gene in one hundred women with preterm birth and one hundred healthy women with at least one uncomplicated full ...