Cortical activation and oxygen perfusion in preterm newborns during kangaroo mother care: A pilot study.

AIM: This study aimed to assess the functional activation of preterm newborns' cerebral cortex during kangaroo mother care. Possible effects of gestational age and previous kangaroo mother care experience were also considered. METHODS: Fifteen preterm newborns were recruited (gestational age: 24-32 weeks). Cortical activation was assessed in frontal, motor and primary somatosensory cortices after 15 and 30 min of kangaroo mother care by multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy (gestational age at assessment: 30-36 weeks). Both oxy- and deoxy-haemoglobin variations were analysed by t-test. Possible effects of gestational age and previous kangaroo mother care experience on cortical activation were studied by regression analysis. RESULTS: After 15 min, bilateral activations (oxy-haemoglobin increase) were observed in frontal, somatosensory and motor cortices. After 30 min, the right motor and primary somatosensory cortices were found activated. Deoxy-haemoglobin increased after 15 min, returning to baseline at 30 min. After 15 min, there was a positive effect of gestational age at the assessment on both haemoglobin concentrations and a negative effect of previous kangaroo mother care on deoxy-haemoglobin increase. CONCLUSION: Motor and somatosensory cortices, particularly on the right side, showed significant activation during kangaroo mother care. Kangaroo mother care seems to benefit activated cortical areas by improving oxygen supply.

Case-control study to develop and validate a questionnaire for the secondary prevention of endometriosis.

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a debilitating gynecologic disease characterized by the implantation of endometrial tissue in ectopic locations, with signs of severe and chronic inflammation. The new knowledge on endometriosis has highlighted the value of secondary prevention through the early diagnosis and treatment of lesions to reduce serious consequences, first of all, infertility and chronic pelvic pain. The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, as a tool to precociously identify women with endometriosis, to prevent the progression of symptoms. METHOD: We reviewed the literature and selected risk factors, symptoms, and phenotypic traits of the women affected by endometriosis to create the questionnaire divided into 8 modules, with 47 questions. A total of 151 women completed the questionnaires: 51 patients who have endometriosis (the cases) and 100 matched women without endometriosis (the controls). After data collection, bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS: We retained four of the significant variables from a step-down logistic regression, namely chronic pelvic pain, dyspareunia with VAS≥3, painful defecation, and acne, to develop a final "predictive" logistic model achieving 90.2% sensitivity and 75% specificity. CONCLUSION: Our pilot study demonstrated that the questionnaire provides a powerful tool for the secondary prevention of endometriosis.