The effect of low to moderate patient volume on very low-birth-weight outcomes in a level III-B neonatal intensive care unit.

We studied the effect of a low- to moderate-volume, level III-B neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on very low-birth-weight (VLBW) outcomes. We performed a retrospective analysis of the King Abdulaziz Hospital (KAH) NICU electronic database. Short-term outcomes of all inborn VLBW infants (501 to 1500 g) in the well-equipped, well-staffed KAH NICU (2003 to 2008) were benchmarked with data (1997 to 2002) from the National Institute of Children Health and Human Development and Neonatal Research Network (NICHD-NRN). Survival without major neonatal morbidity was defined as survival without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), grade III to IV intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), and Bell's stage II to III necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The survival rates of VLBW infants at the KAH NICU ( N = 250) and the NICHD-NRN ( N = 18,153) were similar (84 versus 85%). A significantly higher rate of survival without major neonatal morbidity (80 versus 70%, P = 0.002) and lower rate of BPD (14 versus 22%, P = 0.005) were observed in KAH. The rates of grade III to IV IVH, Bell's stage II to III NEC, and late-onset sepsis were comparable in both cohorts. Our low- to moderate-volume, well-equipped, well-staffed, level III-B NICU achieved outcomes similar to the NICHD-NRN. Further study is warranted to ascertain how a lower-volume NICU achieved similar outcomes, as this could then be applied to quality improvement efforts.

Consequences of brucellosis infection during pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to establish the incidence of adverse outcomes with brucellosis infection during pregnancy. METHODS: Ovid Medline (1946-), Ovid Embase (1974-), and Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics) (1900-), the World Health Organization website and Google were searched September 27, 2017 for (i) outcomes with brucellosis diagnosed during pregnancy and (ii) studies with retrospective diagnosis of maternal brucellosis following adverse pregnancy outcomes. RESULTS: Sixty studies met inclusion criteria. In 65 pregnancies from 28 case reports and 9 small case series (<10 women), there were 20 spontaneous abortions (SAs) (31%), 2 intra-uterine fetal deaths (IUFDs) (3%) and 11 cases of congenital brucellosis (17%). In 14 larger case series there were 181 SAs in 679 pregnancies (27%), 19 IUFDs in 458 pregnancies (4%), and 44 preterm infants (12%) plus 6 infants with congenital brucellosis (2%) in 362 pregnancies. SA, IUFD and preterm delivery incidence were increased with meta-analysis of the 5 case series with controls. Nine studies described brucellosis seroprevalence with adverse pregnancy outcomes with no increased seroprevalence in the two studies with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Brucellosis almost certainly causes SA with increasing evidence that it also leads to IUFD and prematurity. Congenital brucellosis occurs in approximately 2% of infants exposed in-utero.

Congenital Brucellosis: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the spectrum of presentations and the outcome of congenital brucellosis should expedite diagnosis and improve prognostication. METHODS: A systematic review of literature of cases of congenital brucellosis was performed on October 10, 2017 (registered as PROSPERO CRD42017072061). RESULTS: A case seen by the authors was added to the review, yielding 44 reported cases of which 22 (50%) were from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or Kuwait. For cases with the gestational age reported, 23 of 37 (62%) were preterm. The species was Brucella melitensis in 35 cases, Brucella abortus in 3 cases and not documented in 6 cases. The diagnosis was based on a positive blood culture from the first day of life in 20 cases (45%). Presentation was usually typical for a bacteremic infant of that GA, but two infants were asymptomatic at diagnosis. There were two recurrences and seven deaths (six in preterm infants), but the role of Brucella infection in the deaths was not clear. CONCLUSION: Brucellosis remains a concern in endemic countries, adversely affecting pregnancy and very rarely causing neonatal infection. Prematurity appeared to be the prime cause of death in neonates with congenital brucellosis.

Associations between spontaneous preterm birth and maternal-newborn ABO blood phenotype pairs.

OBJECTIVE: To study whether spontaneous preterm birth (SPB) is associated with maternal-newborn ABO blood phenotype pairs. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case-control study in the Department of Pediatrics, King Abdulaziz Hospital, Al-Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A total of 631 live singleton SPBs (less than 37 weeks) between August 2005 and May 2011 formed the case group. A total of 2,204 live singleton term births (greater than or equal to 37 weeks) between May 2008 and April 2009 formed the control group. We extracted data on the mothers and their newborns from our neonatal electronic database and delivery room log book. We extracted ABO blood phenotypes using Cerner's Lab Information Software. We used a Chi square test to study the association between SPB and maternal-newborn ABO pairs. We used a combination of maternal-newborn A-A, B-B, AB-AB, and O-O pairs as the reference group. We used a binary logistic regression analysis to adjust for 6 established risk factors for SPB. RESULTS: Spontaneous preterm birth was associated with only maternal-newborn pairs B-A (odds ratio: 2.67, 95% confidence interval: 1.35-5.24, p=0.003) and AB-B (odds ratio: 1.97, 95% confidence interval: 1.04-3.74, p=0.04). Both associations remained significant in the regression analysis. CONCLUSION: Spontaneous preterm birth is associated with maternal-newborn B-A and AB-B pairs. This finding requires further confirmatory and exploratory study as it could reduce SPBs.