Table of contents

Original research

• Comparison of regional versus global growth charts for the classification of small-for-gestational age neonates (12 May, 2022)

  Pratima Anand, Deena Thomas, Ramesh Agarwal, Anu Thukral, Ashok K Deorari, Vinod Kumar Paul, M Jeeva Sankar

  This prospective study from India explores the short terms outcomes (up to 28 days) in small for gestation age babies as identified by regional vs global growth charts.

• Short-term pulmonary and systemic effects of hydrocortisone initiated 7–14 days after birth in ventilated very preterm infants: a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial (9 May, 2022)

  Nienke M Halbmeijer, Wes Onland, Filip Cools, Andre Kroon, Marja van der Heide-Jalving, Peter Dijk, Henrica L M van Straaten, Arjan B te Pas, Thilo Mohns, Els Bruneel, Arno F J van Heijst, Boris Kramer, Anne Debeer, Inge A Zonnenberg, Yoann Marechal, Henry Blom, Katleen Plaskie, Maruschka P Merkus, Martin Offringa, Anton H van Kaam

  This paper reports measures of pulmonary wellbeing during the 7 days after starting treatment in 372 infants enrolled in the SToP-BPD trial of early hydrocortisone in preterm infants. Although the trial did not show a significant difference in BPD at 36 weeks, hydrocortisone treatment was associated with improved measures of pulmonary wellbeing after starting treatment and earlier extubation.

• Clinical outcomes of preterm infants while using automated controllers during standard care: comparison of cohorts with different automated titration strategies (16 May, 2022)

  Hylke H Salverda, Dianthe M L Beelen, Sophie J E Cramer, Steffen C Pauws, Nicoline Schalij-Delfos, Arjan B te Pas

  This study compared the outcomes of matched cohorts of preterm infants who were treated using 2 different automated oxygen controllers. Differences in morbidity were observed. The data suggest that it cannot be assumed that different automated controllers will produce similar results and that randomised controlled trials will be necessary to refine their use appropriately.

• Early-onset sepsis in very preterm neonates in Australia and New Zealand, 2007–2018 (15 June, 2022)

  Husharn L Duggan, Sharon S W Chow, Nicola C Austin, Prakeshkumar S Shah, Kei Lui, Kenneth Tan

  In a retrospective study from the Australian New Zealand Neonatal Network database, incidence of early onset sepsis in infants less than 32 weeks gestation was stable over 12 years, and incidence of e.coli, the predominant organism, increased.

• Acceleration during neonatal transport and its impact on mechanical ventilation (15 June, 2022)

  Lajos Lantos, András Széll, David Chong, Zsolt Somogyvári, Gusztav Belteki

  This study addresses the impact of the neonatal transport environment on mechanical ventilation. The study provides some information on the forces neonates are exposed to during transport and the response of ventilation equipment to this.

• Feasibility of and experience using a portable MRI scanner in the neonatal intensive care unit (4 July, 2022)

  Maura E Sien, Amie L Robinson, Houchun H Hu, Chris R Nitkin, Ara S Hall, Marcie G Files, Nathan S Artz, John T Pitts, Sherwin S Chan

  The authors describe their single center NICU experience in use of a portable MRI. They report these scans are feasible in a sub-population on NICU babies, and are superior to bed side head ultrasound in detecting ischemic lesions. Images obtained are of lower resolution than conventional MRI scans.

• Lung ultrasound of the dependent lung detects real-time changes in lung volume in the preterm lamb (24 June, 2022)

  Arun Sett, Kelly R Kenna, Rebecca J Sutton, Elizabeth J Perkins, Magdy Sourial, Jack D Chapman, Susan M Donath, Arun Sasi, Sheryle R Rogerson, Brett J Manley, Peter G Davis, Prue M Pereira-Fantini, David G Tingay

  In preterm newborn lambs, lung ultrasound of the dependent lung was able to detect large changes in total and regional lung volume in real-time and correctly identified opening and closing pressures but lacked the precision to detect small changes in lung volume.

• Aetiology and outcomes of prolonged neonatal jaundice in tertiary centres: data from the China Neonatal Genome Project (18 July, 2022)

  Tiantian Xiao, Jin Wang, Huijun Wang, Hongfang Mei, Xinran Dong, Yulan Lu, Guoqiang Cheng, Laishuan Wang, Liyuan Hu, Wei Lu, Qi Ni, Gang Li, Ping Zhang, Yanyan Qian, Xu Li, Xiaomin Peng, Yao Wang, Chun Shen, Gong Chen, Ya-lan Dou, Yun Cao, Liping Chen, Wenqing Kang, Long Li, Xinnian Pan, Qiufen Wei, Deyi Zhuang, Dong-mei Chen, Zhaoqing Yin, Jianshe Wang, Lin Yang, Bingbing Wu, Wenhao Zhou

  In a large case series, next generation sequencing identified genetic disorders in more than 80% of newborns with prolonged jaundice.

• A randomised trial comparing weaning from CPAP alone with weaning using heated humidified high flow nasal cannula in very preterm infants: the CHiPS study (18 July, 2022)

  Joanne Clements, Pernille M Christensen, Michael Meyer

  This trial shows that - when using strict weaning and failure criteria - weaning from nCPAP using nasal high flow was non-inferior to weaning from nCPAP alone in stable very preterm (n=120, <30 weeks GA) infants.

• Remote ischaemic conditioning in necrotising enterocolitis: a phase I feasibility and safety study (8 August, 2022)

  Carlos Zozaya, Niloofar Ganji, Bo Li, Maarten Janssen Lok, Carol Lee, Yuhki Koike, Estelle Gauda, Martin Offringa, Simon Eaton, Prakeshkumar S Shah, Agostino Pierro

  In a small phase 1 pilot study in preterm infants with suspected or confirmed necrotizing enterocolitis, cycles of remote ischemic conditioning with short duration of limb ischemia using a sphygmomanometer followed by reperfusion and rest was feasible and safe.