Transpyloric Feeding is Associated With Improved Oxygenation Compared With Gastric Feeding Among Nonintubated Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants.

OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of transpyloric (TP) feed initiation on short-term oxygenation and manual oxygen blender titration among extremely low birth weight infants. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective study evaluated several measures of oxygenation among extremely low birth weight infants receiving positive pressure respiratory support for 96 hours before and after TP tube placement in a single neonatal intensive care unit during the years 2017- 2020. The measures included the achieved oxygen saturation (SpO2), the baseline fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), the SpO2/FiO2 ratio, the number and severity of hypoxemic episodes and the frequency of manual oxygen titrations (titration index) and were analyzed using an interrupted time series regression approach. RESULTS: A total of 56 infants were evaluated. No significant differences were observed in any oxygenation measures during TP vs gastric feeding among 14 intubated infants. However, among 42 nonintubated patients, significant improvements were observed in the median SpO2/FiO2 ratios (P = .001), median titration index (P = .05), median number of hypoxemic episodes (P = .02), and median severity of hypoxemic episodes (P = .008) after TP tube placement. CONCLUSIONS: The transition from gastric to TP tube feeding was temporally associated with acute improvement in oxygenation for nonintubated infants, but not for intubated infants.

Oxygenation Factors Associated with Retinopathy of Prematurity in Infants of Extremely Low Birth Weight.

OBJECTIVE: To study characteristics of oxygenation during the first 2 postnatal months and correlation with the occurrence and severity of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among infants of extremely low birth weight. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective study analyzed the incidence and severity of hyperoxemia and hypoxemia while on respiratory support with or without supplemental oxygen among infants of extremely low birth weight (birth weight <1000 g) admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit during 2016-2020. The findings were correlated with the occurrence and severity of ROP after adjusting for baseline covariates. RESULTS: After adjusting for differences in baseline demographic and clinical features, the group with severe ROP was exposed to greater fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) (P = .001) and experienced more frequent FiO2 titration adjustments (P = .001) compared with the group without ROP. Ambient air hyperoxemia occurred more frequently in the group without ROP (P = .003), and iatrogenic hyperoxemia occurred more frequently in the group with severe ROP (P = .046). There were no differences in the severity of ambient and iatrogenic hyperoxemia in the study population. The group with severe ROP demonstrated more hypoxemic episodes (P = .01) and longer time spent in the severe hypoxemic range (P = .005) compared with the group without ROP. CONCLUSIONS: Severe ROP is associated with greater FiO2 exposure, increased iatrogenic hyperoxemia, decreased ambient air hyperoxemia, and increased hypoxemia in infants of extremely low birth weight despite a greater frequency of FiO2 titration. This study illustrates the need for automated closed loop FiO2 delivery systems to further optimize oxygen saturation targeting in this high-risk population.

Effect of a Novel Oxygen Saturation Targeting Strategy on Mortality, Retinopathy of Prematurity, and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Neonates Born Extremely Preterm.

OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of an oxygen management strategy incorporating oxygen saturation (SpO2) targeting and fraction of inspired oxygen monitoring on the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and mortality. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective cohort study analyzed the incidence of any ROP, severe ROP, ROP requiring treatment (surgery and/or bevacizumab), BPD, and mortality among 23-28 weeks of gestational age infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit in 3 epochs: Epoch 1 (2007-2010) before implementation of SpO2 histograms; Epoch 2 (2012-2014), with development of a software tool capable of generating automatic bedside SpO2 histograms; and Epoch 3 (2016-2019), with further software enhancements, incorporating simultaneous SpO2 and fraction of inspired oxygen measurements. RESULTS: During Epochs 1, 2, and 3, there were 601, 381, and 550 eligible infants, respectively, for a total of 1532 eligible infants. Mortality, any ROP, severe ROP, ROP needing treatment, and BPD all showed significant downward trends across the 3 epochs. The aOR of mortality was significantly lower in Epoch 3 compared with Epoch 1 (aOR 0.48). The aORs of any ROP and of BPD were significantly lower in Epochs 2 and 3 compared with Epoch 1 (respectively, ROP aORs 0.53 and 0.38; BPD aOR 0.43 and 0.43). The aOR of ROP needing treatment was significantly lower in Epoch 3 compared with Epoch 1 (aOR 0.43). CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated improvement in rates of mortality, any ROP, ROP requiring treatment, and BPD after implementation of a novel oxygen management strategy.

A Modified Algorithm for Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening Using Pulse Oximetry.

: media-1vid110.1542/5727212367001PEDS-VA_2017-4065Video Abstract OBJECTIVES: Determine the performance of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) newborn screening algorithm and the impact of an alternative algorithm. METHODS: Screening was performed on term infants without a known CCHD diagnosis at or near 24 hours of age at a tertiary birth hospital by using the AAP algorithm from 2013 to 2016. Retrospective review from the birth hospital and the area's sole pediatric cardiac center identified true- and false-positives and true- and false-negatives. A simulation study modeled the results of a modified screening algorithm with a single repeat pulse oximetry test instead of 2. RESULTS: Screening results were collected on 77 148 newborns . By using the current AAP algorithm, 77 114 (99.96%) infants passed screening, 18 infants failed for an initial saturation of <90%, and 16 failed after not attaining a passing pulse oximetry level after 3 tests. There was 1 true-positive (total anomalous pulmonary venous return), 33 false-positives, and 6 false-negatives, yielding an overall specificity of 99.96%, a sensitivity of 14.3%, and a false-positive rate of 0.043%. Among false-positives, 10 (31.3%) had significant non-CCHD disease. Simulating the modified algorithm, sensitivity remained at 14.3%, and the false-positive rate increased to 0.054%. CONCLUSIONS: Although CCHD screening in a tertiary care birth hospital may not detect many new cases of CCHD, it can detect other important diseases in newborns. Modifying the screening algorithm to 1 repeat pulse oximetry test instead of 2 may detect additional infants with significant disease without a substantial increase in the false-positive rate.