In USA more than 12.5% of all infants are born preterm. Approximately 75% of all perinatal deaths occur among these preterm infants. Preterm infants are frequently very low in birth weight (VLBW) and receive multiple red blood cell (RBC) transfusions. These transfusions pose increased risk of infections and other complications. Since erythropoietin (EPO) stimulates RBC production, EPO treatment...

Preterm birth affects about 10% of infants born in the United States. Massage therapy is being used in some neonatal intensive care units for its potential beneficial effects on preterm infants. This article reviews published randomized controlled trials on the effects of massage in preterm infants. Most studies evaluating the effect of massage in weight gain in premature infants suggest a posi...

OBJECTIVE To determine the clinical characteristics and videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) findings in infants with suspected dysphagia and compare the clinical characteristics and VFSS findings between full-term and preterm infants. METHODS A total of 107 infants (67 full-term and 40 preterm) with suspected dysphagia who were referred for VFSS at a tertiary university hospital were en...

Dietary supplementation with longchain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) for preterm infants has been a matter of intense interest since the early 1990s. The initial clinical studies from that time period demonstrated that adding omega-3 LCPUFA (mainly from marine oils) to the infant formulas of the day resulted in improved visual and retinal outcomes for preterm infants fed the supplemented...

Plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone concentrations were determined in 47 preterm and term infants who were ill from a variety of causes. The results were compared with those in 53 healthy term infants. Mean plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone values were appreciably higher in ill term and healthy preterm infants compared with healthy term infants, but the highest values were found in ill preterm infants. N...

In this issue of Pediatrics, Fyfe et al present convincing evidence that cerebral tissue oxygenation index (TOI) is lower in habitually supinesleeping preterm infants placed prone rather than supine, and that the cerebral TOI for preterm infants placed prone is lower than the TOI for term infants placed prone. Increased rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) among all infants sleeping pro...

BACKGROUND Preterm birth is increasing worldwide, and late preterm births, which comprise more than 70% of all preterm births, account for much of the increase. Early and late onset sepsis results in significant mortality in extremely preterm infants, but little is known about sepsis outcomes in late preterm infants. METHODS This is an observational cohort study of infants <121 days of age (1...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Prone sleeping is a major risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and preterm infants are at significantly increased risk. In term infants, prone sleeping is associated with reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP) and cerebral tissue oxygenation index (TOI). However, little is known about the effects of sleeping position on TOI and MAP in preterm infants. We ai...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) of the newborn is a severe complication that occurs more frequently in term infants but can be demonstrated also in preterm infants. The incidence of PH in preterm infants is currently unknown because it is often masked by the contemporary respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), there are not important echocardiography studies in the early transitional period assessingt...

BACKGROUND Respiratory viral infections are a major cause of hospitalisation in infants <1 year and might cause severe symptoms in preterm infants. Our aim was to analyse admissions due to respiratory infections in moderate, late and term infants, and to identify risk factors for hospitalisation in preterm versus term. METHODS Prospective study in a cohort of moderate and late preterm, and te...