Inpatient Screening for Early Identification of Developmental Risk in Infants with Congenital Heart Defects.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of an inpatient standardized developmental screener for early identification of developmental risk in infants with a congenital heart defect (CHD). STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective, observational study with convenience sample of postoperative infants with CHD (aged 3-12 months) who underwent neurodevelopmental screening with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Screening Test, Third Edition (Bayley-III Screener) just before discharge. Follow-up testing included outpatient Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) (12-42 mo). RESULTS: The Bayley-III Screener was administered to 325 infants at a median of 5 months, 8 days (IQR 3 months, 28 days, to 7 months, 17 days). Infants scored below age expectations on the Gross Motor (79%), Fine Motor (63%), Receptive Communication (50%), Expressive Communication (38%), and Cognitive (38%) domains. In each domain, children with CHD had greater rates of scores below expectations than the normative sample (each P <.001). The odds of scoring in a greater risk category were increased for infants with genetic syndromes and longer length of hospital stay across all domains. The outpatient Bayley-III (n = 74, 23% follow-up) was completed at a median of 19 months, 9 days (IQR: 17 months, 3 days, to 23 months, 37 days). Individuals falling in greater-risk categories on their initial Bayley-III Screener were significantly more likely to have worse performance on their follow-up outpatient Bayley-III (each domain P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Inpatient standardized neurodevelopmental screening provides important clinical utility in identifying infants at risk for developmental concern, allows for provision of recommendations for developmental services, and potentially overcomes barriers often noted in returning for outpatient post-discharge assessments.

Sleep Patterns in Young Children with Congenital Heart Disease.

Sleep patterns of 419 toddlers with congenital heart disease were comparable with the normative population except for increased likelihood across the cohort of sleeping in parents' room and increased disrupted sleep in children aged 18-23 months. Disrupted sleep patterns were associated with lower maternal education and increased medical complexity.

Tumor Microbiome Diversity and Composition Influence Pancreatic Cancer Outcomes.

Most patients diagnosed with resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) survive less than 5 years, but a minor subset survives longer. Here, we dissect the role of the tumor microbiota and the immune system in influencing long-term survival. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we analyzed the tumor microbiome composition in PDAC patients with short-term survival (STS) and long-term survival (LTS). We found higher alpha-diversity in the tumor microbiome of LTS patients and identified an intra-tumoral microbiome signature (Pseudoxanthomonas-Streptomyces-Saccharopolyspora-Bacillus clausii) highly predictive of long-term survivorship in both discovery and validation cohorts. Through human-into-mice fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiments from STS, LTS, or control donors, we were able to differentially modulate the tumor microbiome and affect tumor growth as well as tumor immune infiltration. Our study demonstrates that PDAC microbiome composition, which cross-talks to the gut microbiome, influences the host immune response and natural history of the disease.