Early modifications of cardiac function in preterm neonates using speckle tracking echocardiography.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Preterm newborns undergo hemodynamic challenges in the postnatal period. The aim of this study was to investigate myocardial mechanics changes in the postnatal period in preterm infants using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-nine preterm infants ≤34 weeks' gestation underwent cardiac ultrasound evaluation during the first 96 hours of life. A repeated echocardiogram at 3 weeks of age was performed. Echocardiographic assessment involved left ventricular ejection fraction, mitral E/A ratio, S' and E' velocities, E/E' ratio, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), left atrium-to-aorta ratio, ductal diameter and ductal shunt pattern. Left ventricular longitudinal, circumferential and radial strain, apex-basal rotation and twist were measured from the apical 4-chamber and short-axis views using STE. RESULTS: The mean gestational age was 30 ± 2.7 weeks with a mean birth weight of 1318 ± 485 g. Apical segments demonstrated higher longitudinal strain than basal and mid-ones. In all gestational ages, endocardial longitudinal strain was higher than the epicardial. Epicardial longitudinal strain significantly increased during the first 3 weeks, resulting in the change in basal rotation from counterclockwise to clockwise and thus in the acquisition of twist. Deformation parameters were higher in infants with a hemodynamic significant patents ductus arteriosus. CONCLUSIONS: Echocardiographic assessment of myocardial deformation parameters is feasible in preterm infants. Our data suggest that the maturational process of the myocardium is due to the development of the epicardial layer after birth, which allows the acquisition of the twist.

Medical and surgical management of primary cardiac tumours in infants and children.

Primary cardiac tumours in infants and children are extremely rare, with an estimated incidence of 0.2% according to echocardiographic studies. Owing to their rarity, there is very little literature available, and most knowledge is based on collections of case reports. Therefore, we reviewed retrospectively our 27 years of clinical experience on the overall management of cardiac tumours among children in order to improve not only our knowledge but also to provide others with information about the incidence, clinical presentation, management, and long-term outcome of this rare disease. Between April, 1982 and April, 2009, 52 children were diagnosed with cardiac tumours at our Institution. Medical records and follow-up echocardiographic evaluations were studied. The diagnosis was prenatal in 35% of the patients. The most frequent tumour types were rhabdomyomas (61.5%), fibromas (15.4%), and myxomas (5.8%). There were no cases of primary malignant tumours. All diagnoses were achieved using two-dimensional echocardiography, and for 12 patients a pathological analysis was carried out. A total of 41 patients (79%) were managed medically, whereas 11 (21%) patients underwent surgical treatment. At a mean follow-up of 7.2 ± 5.4 years, two patients died of complications related to cardiac transplantation; all the remaining patients are in excellent clinical condition. In conclusion, cardiac tumours in paediatric practice are usually clinically and histologically benign. Only a few cases need surgery. Up to one-third of the cardiac masses are detectable prenatally. Rhabdomyoma is the most common histotype, followed by fibroma and myxoma. The long-term prognosis is generally good.

Neonatal Early Onset Sepsis: Impact of Kaiser Calculator in an Italian Tertiary Perinatal Center.

BACKGROUND: Suspected early-onset sepsis (EOS) results in antibiotic treatment and blood withdraw of a substantial number of neonates who are uninfected. We evaluated if the EOS calculator can reduce antibiotic exposure and invasive procedures for suspected EOS in term and late preterm neonates, without any significant increase in adverse outcomes. METHODS: The proportion of EOS risk in neonates ≥35 weeks gestation exposed to antibiotics, intensive monitoring and blood withdrawal was compared between a baseline period (January 2018-May 2018), when Centers for Disease Control guidelines approach was used, and a post-EOS calculator-implementation period (June 2018-December 2019). RESULTS: We included 4363 newborn infants with gestational age ≥35 weeks, respectively 824 in baseline period and 3539 in the EOS calculator period. Among them, 1021 (23.4%) infants presented risk factors for neonatal sepsis. There was a halving in empirical antibiotics exposure: 3% in the baseline and 1.4% in the post-EOS-implementation period, P < 0.05. Blood culture and laboratory evaluations had fallen from 30.6% to 15.4% (P < 0.05). Close monitoring of vital parameters decreased from 25.4% to 4.8% (P < 0.05). The number of antibiotic days per 100 live births decreased from 15.05 to 6.36 days (P <0.05). The incidence of culture-confirmed sepsis and clinical sepsis was very low in 2 periods. Only one infant identified at low-risk by Kaiser calculator at birth developed symptoms after 12 h from birth. We had no readmissions for EOS. CONCLUSIONS: Application of the EOS calculator more than halved the burden of intensive monitoring and antibiotic exposure, without compromising safety in a population with a relatively low incidence of culture-proven EOS and good access to follow-up care.

Jacobsen syndrome and neonatal bleeding: report on two unrelated patients.

INTRODUCTION: In 1973, Petrea Jacobsen described the first patient showing dysmorphic features, developmental delay and congenital heart disease (atrial and ventricular septal defect) associated to a 11q deletion, inherited from the father. Since then, more than 200 patients have been reported, and the chromosomal critical region responsible for this contiguous gene disorder has been identified. PATIENTS' PRESENTATION: We report on two unrelated newborns observed in Italy affected by Jacobsen syndrome (JBS, also known as 11q23 deletion). Both patients presented prenatal and postnatal bleeding, growth and developmental delay, craniofacial dysmorphisms, multiple congenital anomalies, and pancytopenia of variable degree. Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) identified a terminal deletion at 11q24.1-q25 of 12.5 Mb and 11 Mb, in Patient 1 and 2, respectively. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of the parents documented a de novo origin of the deletion for Patient 1; parents of Patient 2 refused further genetic investigations. CONCLUSIONS: Present newborns show the full phenotype of JBS including thrombocytopenia, according to their wide 11q deletion size. Bleeding was particularly severe in one of them, leading to a cerebral hemorrhage. Our report highlights the relevance of early diagnosis, genetic counselling and careful management and follow-up of JBS patients, which may avoid severe clinical consequences and lower the mortality risk. It may provide further insights and a better characterization of JBS, suggesting new elements of the genotype-phenotype correlations.

Safety and tolerability of the switch from buprenorphine to buprenorphine/naloxone in an Italian addiction treatment centre.

Abuse and misuse of pharmacological therapies represent major challenges in the healthcare system, particularly in patients receiving long-acting opioid drugs for the treatment of heroin or opioid addiction. The partial mu-opioid receptor agonist buprenorphine is used to treat opioid dependence, but diversion and misuse may occur. The sublingual combination formulation of buprenorphine and the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (buprenorphine/naxolone) is associated with a reduced abuse potential, and has been shown to have promising efficacy for the treatment of opioid dependence. This observational study assessed the safety and efficacy of sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone combination therapy in patients with opioid dependence after therapeutic switch from buprenorphine monotherapy. A total of 94 patients being treated with buprenorphine monotherapy (average dose 8 mg/day; mean duration of therapy 840 days) were switched to buprenorphine/naloxone combination therapy. Patients were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with buprenorphine/naloxone combination treatment with respect to the management of withdrawal symptoms, and urinary toxicology tests were carried out before and 14 days after switching to combination therapy. Within 3 months, 75/94 patients (80%) previously treated with buprenorphine monotherapy had switched to sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone combination treatment (average dose buprenorphine 8 mg). Among patients receiving combination treatment for >3 months, 83% were receiving medication either weekly or fortnightly, based on the results of toxicological testing. A reduction in positive urinary toxicology tests was observed in patients within two weeks after being switched to combination treatment (before switch: 28, 9 and 2 positive tests for heroin, cocaine and heroin + cocaine, respectively vs 11, 3 and 1 after switch) and a total of 64 patients of the 75 who switched to combination therapy (85%) were satisfied with the management of withdrawal symptoms during buprenorphine/naloxone treatment. Few adverse events were reported and no patients dropped out of treatment. This study shows that switching from buprenorphine monotherapy to sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone combination therapy is effective and well tolerated, and associated with good control of withdrawal symptoms in the majority of patients. In addition, combination therapy reduced illicit drug use (based on negative urinary toxicology texts) and allowed the time between clinic visits to be increased.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Linked to an Artificial Intelligence Risk Index: Early Footprints of Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Preterm Neonates.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a new risk score for intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in preterm neonates based on continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). STUDY DESIGN: We retrospectively analyzed CGM traces obtained from 50 very preterm neonates, grouped into two sub-cohorts started on CGM within 12 and 48 h of birth, respectively. A CGM linked to an Artificial Intelligence Risk (CLAIR) index was developed to quantify glucose variability during the first 72 h of life in neonates with and without IVH. Brain-US was performed at least twice a day for the first 5 days of birth. An integrated remote monitoring platform was developed to capture major clinical events in real time and gather data for the risk index. The new score performance was further compared with other measures of glucose variability (coefficient of variation [CV] and standard deviation [SD]) and with a clinical risk index for babies II (CRIB-II) as a predictor of IVH event. The two cohorts were analyzed separately for internal validation of the method. RESULTS: The primary cohort consisted of 26 neonates (gestational age 30 [28, 31] weeks; BW1275 g[1090, 1750]). Controls (n = 23) exhibited higher CLAIR index than cases (P = 0.004). A cut-off of 0.69 for the new CLAIR index allowed a 100% sensitivity and an 83% specificity for IVH prediction. The CLAIR index was the sole significant predictor for IVH (P = 0.003) when compared with clinical variables, CV, SD, and CRIB-II. In a subgroup analysis in very low-birth-weight infants, the CLAIR index was the sole variable significantly associated with IVH (P = 0.009). Analysis on the secondary cohort (five cases and 16 controls) confirmed a higher CLAIR index in the controls (P = 0.008), in the absence of a difference for CV, SD, and CRIB-II between the two groups. CONCLUSION: CGM, combined with the AI-algorithm, provides a high-sensitivity index for risk detection of IVH that reflects the glycemic impairment preceding IVH.