Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale Profiles in Full-Term Infants: Associations with Maternal Adversity, Medical Risk, and Neonatal Outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: To examine healthy, full-term neonatal behavior using the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) in relation to measures of maternal adversity, maternal medical risk, and infant brain volumes. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective, longitudinal, observational cohort study of pregnant mothers followed from the first trimester and their healthy, full-term infants. Infants underwent an NNNS assessment and high-quality magnetic resonance imaging 2-5 weeks after birth. A latent profile analysis of NNNS scores categorized infants into neurobehavioral profiles. Univariate and multivariate analyses compared differences in maternal factors (social advantage, psychosocial stress, and medical risk) and neonatal characteristics between profiles. RESULTS: The latent profile analysis of NNNS summary scales of 296 infants generated 3 profiles: regulated (46.6%), hypotonic (16.6%), and fussy (36.8%). Infants with a hypotonic profile were more likely to be male (χ2 = 8.601; P = .014). Fussy infants had smaller head circumferences (F = 3.871; P = .022) and smaller total brain (F = 3.522; P = .031) and cerebral white matter (F = 3.986; P = .020) volumes compared with infants with a hypotonic profile. There were no differences between profiles in prenatal maternal health, social advantage, or psychosocial stress. CONCLUSIONS: Three distinct neurobehavioral profiles were identified in healthy, full-term infants with hypotonic and fussy neurobehavioral features related to neonatal brain volumes and head circumference, but not prenatal exposure to socioeconomic or psychosocial adversity. Follow-up beyond the neonatal period will determine if identified profiles at birth are associated with subsequent clinical or developmental outcomes.

Controversies in early liver transplantation for severe alcoholic hepatitis.

Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a condition of acute liver inflammation in the setting of heavy alcohol use that is often managed with corticosteroids in severe cases. Among non-responders to steroids, however, prognosis is poor with up to 75% mortality within 6 months after treatment failure. Early liver transplantation (LT) can achieve an acceptable short-term survival, and initial studies have demonstrated 3-year survival rates of up to 84%. However, the practice of early LT in severe AH remains controversial with concerns over the 6-month rule of sobriety and risk of alcohol relapse post-transplant. Proponents of LT advocate for better understanding of alcohol use as a disorder rather than self-inflicted cause of illness, aim to redefine the misguided application of the 6-month rule, and point out similar relapse rates among patients with early LT and those with greater than 6 months abstinence before transplant. Opponents of LT emphasize the correlation between alcohol relapse and graft failure and mortality, public resistance and potential for distrust among donors, and arguments that transplant centers need to establish improved models to predict relapse and standardize candidate selection criteria across centers. Here we review recent literature on this controversy and provide recommendations for moving forward to consensus.