Table of contents

Original research

• Trends in the use of non-invasive respiratory support for term infants in tertiary neonatal units in Australia and New Zealand (11 April, 2022) Free

  Brett J Manley, Adam G Buckmaster, Javeed Travadi, Louise S Owen, Calum T Roberts, Ian M R Wright, Peter G Davis, Gaston Arnolda

  This manuscript reports the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in term infants in Australia from 2010 - 2018. The use of NIV increased on average 9% per year. There was an associated increase in the rate of pneumothorax and surfactant use over the same period.

• Preterm infant circulating sex steroid levels are not altered by transfusion with adult male plasma: a retrospective multicentre cohort study (1 March, 2022)

  Anders K Nilsson, Gunnel Hellgren, Ulrika Sjöbom, Andreas Landin, Henrik Ryberg, Dirk Wackernagel, David Ley, Ingrid Hansen Pupp, Matti Poutanen, Claes Ohlsson, Ann Hellstrom

  Sex hormones delivered via plasma transfusions from adult male donors to very preterm infants do not alter the circulating plasma concentrations in the infant, irrespective of gender.

• Time to positivity of blood cultures in neonatal late-onset bacteraemia (10 March, 2022)

  Sagori Mukhopadhyay, Sara M Briker, Dustin D Flannery, Miren B Dhudasia, Sarah A Coggins, Emily Woodford, Eileen M Walsh, Sherian Li, Karen M Puopolo, Michael W Kuzniewicz

  In a large retrospective cohort study, most blood cultures drawn after 72 hours for suspected bacteremia and not coagulase negative staphylococcus, were reported positive by 36 hours.

• Respiratory function monitoring to improve the outcomes following neonatal resuscitation: a systematic review and meta-analysis (20 January, 2022)

  Sarah Marie de Medeiros, Avneet Mangat, Graeme R Polglase, G Zeballos Sarrato, Peter G Davis, Georg M Schmölzer

  Investigators conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the use of a respiratory function monitor versus clinical assessment of tidal volume delivery in neonatal resuscitation, with the primary outcome of death before discharge. 3 RCTs enrolling 443 infants were identified. No differences in death, or morbidity were identified, with a call for more research.

• Availability of active therapeutic hypothermia at birth for neonatal hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy: a UK population study from 2011 to 2018 (15 April, 2022)

  Aarti Mistry, Lara Shipley, Shalini Ojha, Don Sharkey

  Retrospective study of availability of therapeutic hypothermia in UK units between 2001 -2018 showing increased availability but still gaps for some babies.

• Effect of antibiotics in the first week of life on faecal microbiota development (9 May, 2022)

  Emmy Van Daele, Kim Kamphorst, Arine M Vlieger, Gerben Hermes, Christian Milani, Marco Ventura, Clara Belzer, Hauke Smidt, Ruurd M van Elburg, Jan Knol

  Study of the effect of antibiotics in the first week of life on fecal microbiota up to 2.5 years of age. Differences identified up to one year of age in babies who received antibiotics when compared with controls.

• Comparison of neonatal morbidity and mortality between single-room and open-bay care: a retrospective cohort study (20 April, 2022)

  Sophie Jansen, Romy J M Berkhout, Arjan B te Pas, Sylke J Steggerda, Linda S de Vries, Nicoline Schalij-Delfos, Alieke van der Hoeven, Enrico Lopriore, Vincent Bekker

  In this retrospective cohort study of the outcomes of infants born <32 week's gestation, moving from a traditional open bay neonatal unit to a new single-room unit was not associated with significant improvements in morbidity or mortality.

• SIDS is associated with prenatal drug use: a meta-analysis and systematic review of 4 238 685 infants (8 April, 2022)

  Louise Makarious, Arthur Teng, Ju Lee Oei

  This meta-analyses of 4,238,685 children from high-income countries found that while prenatal exposure to any drugs of dependency increased SIDS risk this was greatest for infants prenatally exposed to opioids and methadone. Further research to examine associations in low- and middle-income countries is needed.

• Effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on perinatal activity in Yorkshire and the Humber region during 2020: an interrupted time series analysis (11 May, 2022)

  Andrei Scott Morgan, Charlotte Bradford, Hilary Farrow, Elizabeth S Draper, Cath Harrison

  This interrupted time series analyses identified decreased rates of antenatal transfers for threatened extreme preterm delivery decreased rates of admission to neonatal intensive care for babies born extremely preterm and increased stillbirth rates during the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

• Vestibular and balance dysfunction in children with congenital CMV: a systematic review (11 May, 2022)

  Annalie Shears, Georgina Yan, Harriet Mortimer, Elizabeth Cross, Shari Sapuan, Seilesh Kadambari, Suzanne Luck, Paul T Heath, Simone Walter, Katy J Fidler

  This systematic literature review found congenital infection with cytomegalovirus (cCMV) to be associated with vestibular dysfunction in both symptomatic and asymptomatic children, with and without hearing loss. This highlights the importance of audiovestibular assessments when following-up children with cCMV.

• Online clinical tool to estimate risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in extremely preterm infants (21 June, 2022)

  Rachel G Greenberg, Scott A McDonald, Matthew M Laughon, David Tanaka, Erik Jensen, Krisa Van Meurs, Eric Eichenwald, Jane E Brumbaugh, Andrea Duncan, Michele Walsh, Abhik Das, C Michael Cotten

  This paper provides an update on the original NRN BPD risk estimator (2011) using data on >9000 very preterm infants born between 2011-2017. I think it ticks the boxes in terms of methodological validity, potential impact, interest and readability.