PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

R Paludetto

Publications and source records attributed to R Paludetto.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Pulsatile weight increases in very low birthweight babies appropriate for gestational age.

The weight increment profiles of 20 low birthweight babies measured during the first two months of extrauterine life were analysed. The babies were weighed daily, and the weight profiles showed minor irregularities when compared with an interpolated linear trend. When increments were plotted at two week intervals a linear increase in weight velocity was seen, but when increments were computed every three days, the velocity profile was non-linear and pulsatile. All cases studied showed regular pulsatile patterns of weight velocity during the first two months of life. A mean profile of the 20 babies permitted estimation of the periodicity of the pulsing: the cycle alternated every nine to 11 days. A non-linear pattern was found in the published series of unsmoothed data that have been widely adopted as standards for growth in low birthweight babies.

Female

Birth weight of Italian infants of 30 weeks' gestation or less.

Mean birth weights and percentile charts are given for 161 singleton infants born between 24 and 30 weeks' gestation at the 2nd School of Medicine of Naples. This chart is the first for a Mediterranean population. Our data are similar to those reported from a United Kingdom population and from Japan, suggesting that ethnic differences in birth weight at this gestational age are unimportant.

Birth Weight

A case control study of necrotizing enterocolitis occurring over 8 years in a neonatal intensive care unit.

The perinatal histories of 27 newborn infants with NEC were compared to those of 54 infants of equivalent birth weight who did not have NEC during an 8-year study period to see if possible predisposing factors were independent of the confounding effect of birth weight. No differences were observed in gestational age, degree of intrauterine growth retardation, premature rupture of membranes, perinatal asphyxia, skin temperature at admission, haematocrit, presence or absence of respiratory distress syndrome, umbilical catheter placement, start and type of feeding or presence of positive blood cultures. Prematurity is the greatest risk factor predisposing to the development of NEC and the perinatal problems which precede the onset of NEC are common among all premature infants.

Birth Weight

Interaction between nonnutritive sucking and respiration in preterm infants.

The effect of nonnutritive sucking bursts (NNSBs) on respiratory frequency was sequentially evaluated in 12 healthy preterm infants. Studies were performed during active sleep in infants between 32 and 37 weeks postconceptional age. The duration of NNSBs was classified as follows: (a) less than 3 s, (b) between 3 and 6 s, and (c) greater than 6 s. NNSBs of each duration were found at all ages, although NNSBs greater than 6 s were the least frequently observed. Respiratory rate increased significantly during NNSBs of less than 3 s, and also in those of 3-6 s duration. There was no significant effect on respiratory frequency of sucking bursts longer than 6 s. Our results document an early interaction between these two motor rhythms, which is influenced by the length of the NNSB. Moreover, they indicate that the decrease in respiratory frequency reported in a similar group of preterm infants during feeding should not be interpreted as an effect of sucking per se.

Aging

Moderate hyperbilirubinemia does not influence the behavior of jaundiced infants.

Several recent reports have described short-term effects of moderate hyperbilirubinemia, and have questioned the treatment protocols of neonatal jaundice. However, most of these studies were not designed to investigate the effects of hyperbilirubinemia per se and could have been influenced by phototherapy. We have evaluated with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Scale 17 moderately jaundiced term 3-day-old infants (mean bilirubin level 10.6 mg/100 ml, range 8.4-14.3) not treated with phototherapy and 17 not jaundiced matched subjects; 14 jaundiced 4-day-old subjects (mean bilirubin level 10.4 mg/100 ml, range 8.4-12.9) and 14 not jaundiced matched subjects; 10 ex-jaundiced 1-month-old infants (mean bilirubin level 11.5 mg/100 ml, range 9.1-15.9) and 10 matched not jaundiced infants. No differences were found between jaundiced infants and not jaundiced infants. Our data indicate that moderate levels of hyperbilirubinemia not treated with phototherapy do not influence neonatal behavior. Hence, more aggressive treatment is not justified, at least in term infants.

Child Behavior

Gangrene of the buttock: a devastating complication of the infusion of hyperosmolar solutions in the umbilical artery at birth.

This paper describes two cases of gangrene in the buttock secondary to infusion of a hyperosmolar solution into the umbilical artery at birth. Because of the frequent dilatation of the umbilical arteries in asphyxiated infants, needle puncture should not be used to infuse fluids into the umbilical vein. Moreover, hypertonic solutions that can produce vascular thrombosis should be avoided in metabolic resuscitation in the delivery room.

Buttocks

Effects of different ways of covering the eyes on behavior of jaundiced infants treated with phototherapy.

This study was performed to determine whether covering the eyes with an opaque screen over the head end of the bassinet instead of the normal patch would improve the behavioral organization of jaundiced, but otherwise healthy, term infants treated with phototherapy. 38 matched infants were randomly assigned to have a patch or a screen. Serum bilirubin at the time of observation was 11.2-17.5 mg/100 ml (mean = 13.7, patch) and 9.4-16.4 mg/100 ml (mean = 13.4, screen). 19 infants, of whom 11 were jaundiced (6.2-14.3 mg/100 ml, mean = 10.3), served as control subjects. The infants were examined with the Brazelton scale on the 3rd day after birth, when the patch subjects had been under blue light from 6 to 45 h (mean = 23.9), and the screen subjects from 6 to 61.5 h (mean = 22.6). The control subjects scored better (all differences, p less than 0.05) than the patch subjects on inanimate visual, animate visual, visual and auditory, alertness. The control subjects also did better than the screen subjects on inanimate visual, animate visual, animate auditory, visual and auditory, alertness, but poorer on motor maturity and consolability. The screen subjects did poorer than the patch subjects only on skin color lability. At 1 month of age, 9 sets of matched infants were examined. The only difference was that the control subjects did better than the patch subjects on animate visual and lability of state. Our data confirm the poorer short-term orientation performance of jaundiced infants treated with phototherapy but do not indicate that covering the eyes with an opaque screen improves behavioral organization.

Child Behavior