Respiratory Changes in Ventilated and Not-Ventilated Neonates During and After Whole-Body Hypothermia: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

The aim of this study was to describe whether whole-body hypothermia induced different respiratory changes in both invasively and noninvasively ventilated newborns and spontaneously breathing asphyxiated newborns during the course and after therapeutic hypothermia (TH). Data of 44 asphyxiated newborns undergoing TH at five different neonatal intensive care units in southern Italy were collected retrospectively between January 2018 and January 2021. For each type of ventilation, patient data on pH, partial pressure of Carbon Dioxide (pCO2), base excess, lactate, and heart rate were recorded before cooling was started and at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours from its initiation. Patients were later subgrouped into spontaneously breathing, noninvasively ventilated, and mechanically ventilated groups. The average trend of each parameter was reported, and a nonparametric statistical analysis of differences among groups before initiation and at 96 hours was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Our results confirmed previous findings (supported by a small amount of literature) that no increase in requests for respiratory support is recorded in asphyxiated newborns undergoing TH during and after the rewarming phase. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences in the analyzed parameters were found among spontaneously breathing, noninvasively ventilated, and mechanically ventilated newborns, suggesting that changes in parameters might be attributable to TH itself rather than to an improvement in the respiratory condition over time; otherwise, a difference between spontaneously breathing patients, by definition "stable" from a respiratory point of view, and those requiring any type of respiratory support would have been expected.

Symptomatic COVID-19 in Pregnancy: Hospital Cohort Data between May 2020 and April 2021, Risk Factors and Medicolegal Implications.

Pregnancy does not appear to increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, but some physiological changes, such as the reduction of residual functional volumes, elevation of the diaphragm, and impaired cellular immunity, may increase the risk of severe disease and result in a higher risk of complications. The article's primary objective is to evaluate the factors associated with symptomatic COVID-19 disease in pregnancy. The secondary objective is to describe maternal and neonatal outcomes and cases of vertical transmission of the infection. All pregnant women hospitalized with SARS-CoV2 infection were included in a prospective study in the UOC of Obstetrics and Gynecology, AOOR Villa Sofia-Cervello, Palermo, between May 2020 and April 2021. The patients who requested the termination of the pregnancy according to Law 194/78 were excluded. We included 165 pregnancies with a total number of 134 deliveries. Overall, 88.5% of the patients were asymptomatic at the time of admission and 11.5% were symptomatic. Of them, 1.8% of the patients required hospital admission in the intensive care unit. Symptoms occurrences were positively associated with the increase in maternal BMI (OR 1.17; p = 0.002), the prematurity (OR 4.71; p = 0.022), and at a lower birth weight (OR 0.99; p = 0.007). One infant tested positive for SARS-CoV2 nasopharyngeal swab; 11.4% of newborns had IgG anti SARS-CoV2 at birth; IgM was positive in 2.4% of newborns. There was no difference statistically significant difference in the vertical transmission of the infection among the group of symptomatic pregnant women and that of asymptomatic pregnant women.

Acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy (AHEI): Alarming cutaneous presentation of a benign and self-limited disease.

Acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy (AHEI) is a cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis. We report on an 11-month-old boy, presenting the classical feature of AHEI with alarming cutaneous presentation, but good clinical condition. Early recognition is crucial to avoid unnecessary medical investigations or therapies, as well as to identify potentially severe complications.

[Atrial septal defect in a child with Ito syndrome]. / Difetto del setto interatriale in un neonato con ipomelanosi di Ito.

Hypomelanosis of Ito is a rare neurocutaneous disorder described for the first time in 1952. It is characterized by depigmented skin areas often associated with ocular, musculoskeletal and neurological abnormalities. We report the case of a newborn affected by hypomelanosis of Ito with an atrial septal defect.