purpose: this study aimed to evaluate risk factors associated with threshold retinopathy of prematurity (rop) in premature infants referred to farabi eye hospital during 2008-2009. since blindness and sever visual impairments will occur in a high percentage of infants stricken with threshold retinopathy, we intended to examine relationship between demographic factors and threshold retinopathy i...

BACKGROUND: Apnea of prematurity consists in 15 to 20 sec. of breathing cessation and is the most important disorder in the control of breathing in preterm infants. It is treated with caffeine citrate. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this article are to review: (1) the mechanisms of action, (2) the effects, (3) the metabolism, (4) the pharmacokinetics, and (5) the adverse effects of caffeine citr...

Intermittent hypoxic episodes are typically a consequence of immature respiratory control and remain a troublesome challenge for the neonatologist. Furthermore, their frequency and magnitude are underestimated by clinically employed pulse oximeter settings. In extremely low birth weight infants the incidence of intermittent hypoxia progressively increases over the first 4 weeks of postnatal lif...

background: recent studies have demonstrated the high prevalence of vitamin d deficiency in the general population. pregnancy and preterm delivery are known as risk factors for vitamin d deficiency. consequently, vitamin d level in women with preterm deliveries might vary from those with term pregnancies. in this study, we aimed to compare vitamin d level in term and preterm infant–mother pairs...

With improved survival of very low birth infants in India, Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is emerging as a significant problem. The most important risk factor in the pathogenesis of ROP is prematurity. Other factors like, problems with oxygenation frequent blood transfusions, sepsis and apnea have also been implicated in the causation of ROP. Essentially asymptomatic in the initial stages, a ...

Evidence based guidelines for the neonatal transfusions are still emerging. It is always a conundrum for a pediatrician, to decide when to give packed red blood cells to a growing premature infant with or without signs and symptoms of chronic neonatal anemia. It is further complicated, as some of that clinical picture can be explained by co-morbidities like neonatal sepsis, apnea of prematurity...

Apnea of prematurity (AOP) is found in >50% of premature infants and is almost universal in infants who are <1000 g at birth. The literature clearly defines clinically significant apnea in infants (breathing pauses that last for >20 seconds or for >10 seconds if associated with bradycardia or oxygen desaturation), but there is no consensus about the duration of apnea, the degree of change in ox...