Objective
To explore the levels and the clinical significance of serum soluble Endoglin (sEng) and soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlt-1) in patients with preeclampsia (PE).
Methods
Ninety-six patients with PE were included from June 2009 to June 2014. The patients were divided into mild PE group (n=54) and severe PE group (n=42), while 40 healthy pregnant women were in the control group. The general situation and laboratory testing were recorded and the serum levels of sEng and sFlt-1 were detected. All patients were routinely followed up with the recording of delivery and neonatal situation.
Results
The sEng and sFlt-1 levels were highest in the severe PE group [(7345.02±772.73) and (866.08±203.24) ng/L], which was followed by mild PE [(5 547.08±564.06) and (603.99±138.37) ng/L] and control group [(1 840.93±300.71) and (252.68±83.03) ng/L] (P<0.01). Levels of sEng were significantly correlated with sFlt-1 in both mild and severe PE groups. There were significantly correlations between sEng and sFlt-1 in mild or severe PE group respectively. The level of sEng and sFlt-1 was considerably positively correlated with mean arterial pressure, 24-hour urinary protein, serum creatinine, fibrinogen, umbilical artery shrink/diastole and resistance index value, but negatively correlated with prothrombin time, birth weight and the placenta weight (P<0.05). PE patients with sEng of <5 000 ng/L and sFlt-1 levels of <700 ng/L had the risk of severe complications of 6.8% and 14.0%; while patients with sEng of ≥5 000 ng/L and sFlt-1 of ≥700 ng/L had the ratio fo 40.4% and 37.0% respectively (P<0.01).
Conclusion
Serum levels of sEng and sFlt-1 in PE patients indicate that the severity of disease and outcomes of pregnancy.
ObjectiveTo explore the risk factors for neonatal nosocomial infection and the pathogen resistance, in order to provide the basis for hospital infection control. MethodsSurveillance of hospital infection in newborns hospitalized for more than 48 hours were carried out from January to December 2012, and the risk factors for hospital infection were analyzed. ResultsThere were 54 newborn cases with neonatal nosocomial infection, and the infection rate of newborns was 1.25%. The major infection sites were respiratory tract (66.7%), gastrointestinal tract (18.5%), skin and soft tissues (9.2%). Birth weight (χ2Trend=126.88, P<0.001), hospitalization days (χ2Trend=106.89, P<0.001), invasive operation (χ2=5.338, P=0.021) were the major risk factors. A total of 54 strains of pathogenic bacteria were isolated from 54 newborn cases with neonatal nosocomial infection. Twenty-three strains of gram-positive bacteria accounted for 42.6%, which were generally resistant to penicillin and large ring lactone class antibiotic drugs. Thirty-one strains of gram-negative bacteria accounted for 57.4%, which were mainly resistant to the three generations of cephalosporins. ConclusionThe hospital infection rate of newborns is low. Birth weight, hospitalization days and invasive operation are the major risk factors for neonatal nosocomial infection.
Objective To make an individualized administration scheme via evidence-based medicine methods, namely adding heparin into the total nutrient admixture (TNA) solution, so as to help a neonate to prevent the occlusion of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC). Methods After carefully assessing the condition of neonate, this clinical issue was put forward in accordance with the PICO principles. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews on neonates’ PICC occlusion were collected from The Cochrane Library, CCTR, DARE, NGC, MEDLINE (Ovid) and CBM from inception to 2011. The clinical intervention scheme was finally made after the assessment of the retrieved evidence and neonate’s physiological condition. Results A total of 4 RCTs and 1 systematic review related to the issues were identified. The following scheme was finally made for the neonate through the assessment of the retrieved evidence and combination of intentions of the patient’s family members: heparin (0.5 U/mL) was added into TNA to prevent PICC occlusion. During the application, blood routine test and blood coagulation were monitored, and the catheter opening time and extubation reason were recorded. Through the above treatment, the neonate successfully completed the treatment before extubation. The time of both PICC detaining and opening was 20 days in total, and there were no PICC occlusion, no catheter thrombosis, and no catheter related bloodstream infection. Moreover, no observation showed thrombopenia and aggravated coagulation disorders resulted from heparin. Conclusion The evidence-based medicine method is an effective way to make reasonable heparin scheme for neonate, so as to prevent PICC occlusion, reduce catheter thrombosis, decrease risks of catheter related blood circulation infection, assure successful completion of treatment, and guarantee the safety of patients.
Myocardial and cerebral protection are always the major concerns in neonatal aortic arch surgery. From the application of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest technology to continuous cardio-cerebral perfusion strategy adopted in many cardiac centers recently, each perfusion method has its own pros and cons, so there is no consensus on which one is the most suitable. This review aims to summarize the development and research progress of various perfusion methods, so that to provide a foundation for further development.
ObjectiveTo analyze the early outcomes of 203 neonates with low birth weight (<2 500 g) undergoing cardiac surgery, and to analyze the causes of death during hospitalization.MethodsFrom June 2003 to June 2017, medical records of 203 neonates with low birth weight undergoing congenital heart surgery in Guangdong General Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. There were 124 males and 79 females, including 151 premature infants. The average birth weight was 1 719±515 g, the average age at operation was 32.7±20.2 d and the average weight at operation was 1 994±486 g. The causes of death during hospitalization (including neonates given up on treatments) were analyzed.ResultsTotally 103 patients had pneumonia, 98 patients needed mechanical ventilation to support breathing and 26 patients needed emergency operation before operation. All patients undergoing congenital heart surgery were treated with general anesthesia with tracheal intubation, including 107 patients under non cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and 96 patients under CPB with a mean CPB time of 96.5±71.7 min and a mean aorta cross-clamp time of 51.8±45.5 min. The average postoperative mechanical ventilation time was 9.1±21.5 d and the average postoperative length of stay was 26.7±19.3 d. The major postoperative complications included pneumonia, anemia, atelectasis, septicemia, intrapleural hemorrhage, diaphragm paralysis and cardiac dysfunction. Twenty-nine patients died during hospitalization and the overall mortality rate was 14.3%. Four patients died in the operation room, 14 patients died 72 hours after operation and 2 patients were given up. The main causes of hospitalized death were low cardiac output syndrome, severe infection, disseminated intravascular coagulation disorder, acute renal failure and pulmonary hypertension crisis.ConclusionOverall, early cardiac surgery for low birth weight neonates is safe and effective. The difficulty of the cardiac surgery is the key to the prognosis. Strengthening perioperative management can improve the quality of operation and reduce the risk of mortality and morbidity during hospitalization.
ObjectiveTo discuss the evaluation of clinical grading for neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) by diffusion weighted imaging (DWI).
MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the DWI findings of 39 neonates with HIE diagnosed by clinical criteria from December 2009 to July 2013. Abnormal signals were observed for 23 neonates (59%). These neonates were divided into three groups (group A, B and C) according to the shape and range of abnormal signals. Then Kappa test was performed between groups of different clinical grading (light, medium, severe).
ResultsFor groups arranged based on abnormal signals and clinical grading, the Kappa value of the consistency test was 0.797 (P < 0.001).
ConclusionsDWI negativity cannot exclude the existence of HIE. However, when abnormal signals occur, we can infer the severity in neonates with HIE according to the shape and range of abnormal signals by DWI.
Omphalocele is a less common congenitalmalformation in neonates and belongs to the realm of emergent surgical treatment. Early repair is of crucial importance for saving the patient s life. Ten neonates with omphalocele have undergone early surgical repair since 1988. The overall result was satisfactory. There were 8boys and 2 girls. The time of operation ranged from one to fortyeight hours after birth (24 hours in 8 cases). All of them were term neonates, except in onecase being premature. None of them had rupture of the sac membrane. The minor and major omphalocele were in 8 and 2 cases, respectively. Five cases accompaniedwith other congenital malformations (1 to 3 kinds). One case of them was complicated by exompholos-macroglossia-gigantism (EMG syndrome). Nine cases were treated by primary stage of surgical repair. One case with major omphalocelehad undergone two-staged operation. Nine neonates were survived and only onedied of pneumonia and scleroderma postoperatively. The patients were followed up for 3 months to 5 years, 9 cases were satisfactory. Early surgical repairwas essential to successful treatment. The choice of surgical methods, the management of concomittant malformation in the alimentary tract and the factors influencing the prognosis were discussed.
ObjectiveTo objectively evaluate the effect and safety of naloxone for the treatment of moderate and severe neonatal hypoxia-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
MethodsResearch articles published from inception to June 2015 on Cochrane library, PubMed, Web of science, Chinese Science and Technology Journal Full-text Database, Digital Full-text Journal Database and Chinese Journal Full-text Database were searched, which were relevant to naloxone in the treatment of moderate and severe neonatal HIE. And two authors extracted information via standardized data extraction form and assessed the quality of included studies independently. RevMan 5.2 software was used for Meta-analysis.
ResultsAt last, 20 randomized controlled trials (involving 1 519 neonates; 783 in the treatment group and 736 in the control group) were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the effect of naloxone for moderate and severe HIE was significantly superior to the control group[OR=5.07, 95%CI (3.61, 7.12), P < 0.000 01]. The neurobehavioral scores in neonates treated by naloxone after 5, 7, 10, and 14 days were higher than those in the control group[WMD=6.61 points, 95%CI (5.70, 7.51) points, P < 0.000 01; WMD=4.27 points, 95%CI (2.63, 5.91) points, P < 0.000 01; WMD=2.40 points, 95%CI (1.47, 3.34) points, P < 0.000 01; WMD=2.58 points, 95%CI (1.00, 4.16) points, P=0.001], respectively; while the neurobehavioral scores after 3-day treatment between the two groups had no statistically difference[WMD=0.00 points, 95%CI(-0.76, 0.77) points, P=0.99]. What's more, the disappeared time of clinical symptoms and signs (breathing improvement time, recovery time, convulsions disappearance time, and signs disappearance time) in naloxone group was superior to the control groups[WMD=-3.78 hours, 95%CI (-6.93, -0.64) hours, P=0.02; WMD=-9.66 hours, 95%CI (-14.25, -5.06) hours, P < 0.001; WMD=-2.81 hours, 95%CI (-5.28, -0.35) hours, P=0.03; WMD=-1.02 days, 95%CI (-1.84, -0.20) days, P=0.01], respectively.
ConclusionsNaloxone has certain therapeutic on moderate and severe HIE. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials should be carried out to provide more reliable evidence.
ObjectiveTo compare and analyze the effect of myocardial protection between HTK and del Nido cardioplegia solutions in neonates with surgeries for transposition of the great arteries. MethodsThe clinical data of 208 neonates with complete transposition of the great arteries in our institution from 2014 to 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the cardioplegia solutions utilized in the operations, the patients were divided into two groups: a HTK group and a del Nido group. Propensity score matching was conducted to eliminate the biases. The cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamping time, total amount of cardioplegia solutions, transfusion frequency of cardioplegia, ICU stay time, mechanical support time, inotropic score, hospital stay, left ventricular ejection fraction, N-terminal proBNP and troponin I were compared and analyzed between the two groups after matching. ResultsAfter 1:1 propensity score matching, a total of 54 patients were analyzed with 27 patients in each group. In the HTK group, there were 22 males and 5 females with a median age of 7.0 (2.0, 11.0) d. In the del Nido group, there were 23 males and 4 females with a median age of 8.0 (3.0, 11.0) d. A total of 3 children died after the surgery: 2 (7.4%) patients in the HTK group and 1 (3.7%) patient in the del Nido group. There was no significant difference in hospital mortality between the two groups (P=1.000). The total amount of cardioplegia solutions in the HTK group was significantly higher than that of del Nido group (P<0.001). Transfusion frequency of cardioplegia in del Nido group was significantly higher than that of the HTK group (P=0.043). There was no significant difference in the postoperative ICU time, mechanical support time, length of hospital stay, inotropic score, left ventricular ejection fraction, N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide precursor or troponin I between the two groups (P>0.05). ConclusionFor neonates with surgeries for complete transposition of the great arteries, HTK cardioplegia solutions can provide effective and safe myocardial protection, which is similar to del Nido cardioplegia solutions.
Objective To evaluate the relationship between the severity of neonatal infection and the activity change of cardiac enzyme. Methods A total of 102 infectious neonates in NICU were evaluated with neonatal serious illness scoring system and then divided into non-critical, critical, and extremely-critical groups. The activity of such serum myocardial enzymes as AST, ALT, LDH, CK, and CKMB was tested in the first 24 hours on admission. Comparison between groups and analyses were conducted. Resultes Myocardial enzyme of the critical and extremely-critical groups was obviously higher than that of the non-critical group (Plt;0.01). Conclusion The serious illness score of infectious neonates is closely associated with the activity change of myocardial enzyme and the level of serum myocardial enzymes has certain advantages in judging the myocardial injury and the disease severity of neonatal infection.
