Neonatal Early-Onset Sepsis Due to Haemophilus Influenzae in Utah.

Haemophilus influenzae causes serious invasive disease in children and is described as an infrequent cause of neonatal early-onset sepsis (EOS). Here we present the clinical and microbiologic features of 10 cases of EOS due to H. influenzae in Utah.

Neonatal Magnesium Levels Between 24 and 48 Hours of Life and Outcomes for Epilepsy and Motor Impairment in Premature Infants.

OBJECTIVE: Elevated rates of epilepsy and motor impairments including cerebral palsy are observed in children who were born prematurely. Maternal antenatal magnesium supplementation has been associated with decreased rates of cerebral palsy in infants born prematurely. Our objective was to determine whether the neonatal serum magnesium level between 24 and 48 hours after birth is associated with better long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes (epilepsy, motor impairment) in premature infants. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis in infants born less than 37-weeks gestation over a ten-year period. Prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal clinical and demographic information was collected. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were estimated under generalized linear models with generalized estimating equations to examine the association of the neonatal serum magnesium level between 24 and 48 hours after birth with the risk of epilepsy and/or motor impairment (spasticity; hypotonia; cerebral palsy). RESULTS: The final cohort included 5461 infants born less than 37-weeks gestation from 2002 to 2011. The adjusted relative risk ratio for the combined outcomes of epilepsy and/or motor impairment, controlling for gestational age, current age, maternal magnesium supplementation, maternal steroid administration, five-minute Apgar score, neonatal infection, need for vasopressor use, and birth weight and with serum magnesium level as the main independent variable, was 0.85 (P = 0.24). Stratified analyses by gestational age less than 32 or greater than 32 weeks were not significantly associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcome (risk ratio = 0.79 and 1.2, P = 0.12 and 0.49, respectively). A multivariate analysis for the risk of motor impairment alone had a risk ratio of 0.94 (P = 0.72). CONCLUSION: This study demostrates that the neonatal magnesium level between 24 and 48 hours of life in premature infants is not significantly associated with the risk for developing epilepsy or motor impairment.

A retrospective analysis of treatment-related hospitalization costs of pediatric, adolescent, and young adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

This retrospective study examined the longitudinal hospital outcomes (costs adjusted for inflation, hospital days, and admissions) associated with the treatment of pediatric, adolescent, and young adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Patients between one and 26 years of age with newly diagnosed ALL, who were treated at Primary Children's Hospital (PCH) in Salt Lake City, Utah were included. Treatment and hospitalization data were retrieved from system-wide cancer registry and enterprise data warehouse. PCH is a member of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) and patients were treated on, or according to, active COG protocols. Treatment-related hospital costs of ALL were examined by computing the average annual growth rates (AAGR). Longitudinal regressions identified patient characteristics associated with costs. A total of 505 patients (46.9% female) were included. The majority of patients had B-cell lineage ALL, 6.7% had T-ALL, and the median age at diagnosis was 4 years. Per-patient, first-year ALL hospitalization costs at PCH rose from $24,197 in 1998 to $37,924 in 2012. The AAGRs were 6.1, 13.0, and 7.6% for total, pharmacy, and room and care costs, respectively. Average days (AAGR = 5.2%) and admissions (AAGR = 3.8%) also demonstrated an increasing trend. High-risk patients had 47% higher costs per 6-month period in the first 5 years from diagnosis than standard-risk patients (P < 0.001). Similarly, relapsed ALL and stem cell transplantations were associated with significantly higher costs than nonrelapsed and no transplantations, respectively (P < 0.001). Increasing treatment-related costs of ALL demonstrate an area for further investigation. Value-based interventions such as identifying low-risk fever and neutropenia patients and managing them in outpatient settings should be evaluated for reducing the hospital burden of ALL.