Permanent childhood hearing impairment in infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit: nested case-control study.

The prevalence of permanent childhood hearing impairment (PCHI) in infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is higher than that in the general population. Our study objective was to identify risk factors associated with PCHI in infants who required admission to the NICU for more than 48 h. We performed a case-control study, including infants of all gestational ages who were admitted to NICU for more than 48 h and who underwent newborn hearing screening between 2005 and 2019. Infants admitted to NICU and diagnosed with PCHI by formal audiology were classified as "cases". The "controls" were infants who were admitted to NICU and did not have PCHI. Cases and controls (1:4) were matched based on their birth gestation, birthing place, and treating NICU. The prevalence of PCHI in infants admitted to NICU was 6.3% as compared with our general population prevalence of 0.25%. There were 77 cases and 269 controls during the study period. The median age at diagnosis of PCHI in these infants was 132 days (interquartile range 75.5-518.5). Using regression analysis, "any ventilation episodes", presence of seizures, and major congenital anomalies were significantly associated with PCHI in infants of all gestational ages. There were higher prevalence of PCHI in preterms (<32 weeks) who received furosemide and lower prevalence with antenatal use of magnesium sulphate.Conclusions: In our study, the prevalence of hearing loss was high in infants admitted to NICU. Gestation-specific risk factors identified in this case-control study would help in counselling of parents. What is Known: • In the UK, 1-2/1000 infants are born with hearing loss and infants admitted to the neonatal unit for 48 h or more have increased prevalence of hearing loss (1 in 100 live births). • Identification of risk factors in infants admitted to neonatal unit would help with risk stratification and further management. What is New: • In our study, infants admitted to the neonatal unit had higher prevalence of hearing loss (6.3 in 100 live births). • In infants across all gestational age "any ventilation episodes", presence of seizures, and severe congenital anomalies were associated with a statistically significant increase in prevalence of hearing loss. Higher prevalence of hearing loss was noted in preterm infants (<32 weeks) who received furosemide treatment and lower prevalence was noted with antenatal use of magnesium sulphate.

Effectiveness of hypothermia prevention devices for preterm infants: A laboratory study.

BACKGROUND: Newborn hypothermia at birth remains as global challenge across all settings. The prevention of delivery room hypothermia at birth could potentially reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To compare the heat conservation efficacy of Neohelp and Neowrap and evaluate the heat production efficacy of trans-warmer infant mattress (TWM) in a laboratory setting. METHODS: A beaker of water was heated at 60∘C was covered by Neohelp or two layers of Neowrap and left to cool in an open room for 90 minutes and calculated the decay constant. Using infra-red camera, we measured the maximum temperature and time taken to reach the temperature in the TWM. RESULTS: Neowrap took 863 seconds for the temperature to drop from 37∘C to 35∘C, compared with 941 seconds with Neohelp. When activated TWM reached a maximum temperature of 39.3 ± 0.1∘C. It took 30 seconds when the activator was placed in the centre, compared with 88 seconds when it was at the corner. CONCLUSION: Compared to Neowrap, Neohelp had better heat conservation properties. Activating the metal disk from the TWM center would deliver quicker heat.

Outcomes of Preterm Infants Who Experienced Unplanned Extubation.

BACKGROUND: Unplanned extubation (UE) is associated with adverse outcomes. The aim of the study was to compare the clinical outcomes in preterm infants who experienced at least one UE to those who did not experience any UE. METHODS: The matched cohort study compared ventilated preterm infants < 32 weeks who experienced UE to those who did not experience any UE. The main outcomes were duration of mechanical ventilation after matching, duration of hospital stay, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) requiring intervention, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). RESULTS: Forty-seven infants were included in each group. The groups were matched for mechanical ventilation duration before UE, birth gestation, and birthweight. The duration of mechanical ventilation after matching (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 14.8 [11.2-18.4], P = <.001), the total length of stay in the hospital (aOR 16.4 [3.7-29.2], P = .01), and severe ROP (aOR 6.7 [1.7-27.0], P = .007) were significantly higher in infants who experienced UE. After adjusting for mechanical ventilation duration, UE was not associated with ROP or BPD. However, infants who spent longer time on mechanical ventilation had higher odds of developing ROP (aOR 1.1 [1.0-1.2], P = .004) and BPD (aOR 1.5 [1.1-2.1], P = .01). Sensitivity analysis including infants who had UE and managed on noninvasive respiratory support showed significant association between UE and the outcomes of duration of mechanical ventilation, hospital length of stay, ROP, and BPD. CONCLUSIONS: Infants who experienced UE had higher odds of spending longer time on mechanical ventilation and spent significantly more days in the hospital.

Is early patent ductus arteriosus ligation helpful in premature neonates? A 10-year retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: To compare short and long outcomes between early (≤ 28 days) (EL) and late ligation (LL) groups. To explore factors predicting early extubation (≤ 7 days) after patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation. METHODS: We conducted a single center, retrospective cohort study of preterm infants < 32 weeks who underwent surgical ligation over a 10-year period (2009-2019). RESULTS: A total of 133 infants underwent PDA ligation, in the study period. Both groups had similar short-term outcome such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or death (96% vs. 98%, P = 0.64) and long-term clinical outcomes including Bayley's assessment at 2 years corrected age. Fewer infants in the EL group developed severe BPD (63% vs. 81%, P = 0.02). Age at ligation had adjusted odds ratio of 1.04 with over lapping confidence interval (95% CI 1.0-1.1, P = 0.02) for severe BPD/death. There was no difference in day of extubation between the EL and LL group (8 days vs. 7 days, P = 0.85). Left atrium/aortic root ratio of ≥ 1.75 would give sensitivity of 41% and 80% specificity for early extubation (area under the curve of 0.61). There was marginal reduction of hospital stay in the EL group [113 (105-121) days vs. 115 (107-123) days; log rank P = 0.026]. CONCLUSION: EL can be delivered safely with a clinically important lower incidence of severe BPD and shorter duration of hospital stay compared to LL.