SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Infant Development”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 847 records · Page 47Linked to original sources

PubMed1999

Prenatal and postnatal histories of very low birthweight infants who developed hepatoblastoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatoblastoma in children of very low birthweight (< 1500 g) is increasing in Japan and this has suggested the presence of either a genetic or environmental etiology. This study was aimed at revealing common prenatal and postnatal histories, including family history of hepatoblastomas in children of very low birthweight. METHODS AND RESULTS: The medical records of 15 patients, nine boys and six girls, were reviewed. The patients were diagnosed at the age of 6-77 months (median 16 months). Their birthweight ranged from 560 to 1380 g (median 826 g) and the gestational age was 23-33 weeks (median 25 weeks). No parents were exposed to any occupational risk factors and there were no characteristic features in the parents' history or the maternal reproductive history, although one patient was born to a mother who had taken a contraceptive before she got pregnant with the patient as a result of in vitro fertilization. A ventricular septal defect and an atresia of the external auditory canal were congenital anomalies seen in the patients, but congenital anomalies associated with hepatoblastoma were not seen. Early postnatal illnesses included respiratory distress syndrome in six patients, symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus in three patients, chronic lung disease in seven patients, cytomegalovirus hepatitis in one patient and cholelithiasis in one patient. Oxygen therapy was given to 13 patients for a period of 4-508 days (median 112 days) and lengths of oxygen therapy and assisted ventilation were significantly longer in patients with a stage IIIB or IV tumor than those with a stage II or IIIA tumor (P = 0.0040 and 0.0190, respectively). Furosemide was used in 13 patients for a period of 6-460 days (median 88 days) and the length of the treatment was also significantly longer in patients with advanced tumors (P = 0.0420). Among the patients at 23-25 weeks of gestation, these treatments tended to be longer in patients with a stage IIIB or IV tumor than those with a stage II or IIIA tumor. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest the presence of an environmental etiology, rather than a genetic one, which is responsible for the development of hepatoblastoma in children of very low birthweight. Close monitoring of the children after being discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit is essential and a case-control study is necessary to identify risk factors for hepatoblastoma in children of very low birthweight.

Child↗

PubMed1997

Ontogenetic variation in small-bodied New World primates: implications for patterns of reproduction and infant care.

This paper explores relations of ontogeny, life history strategies and patterns of infant care in 11 species of small-bodied New World monkeys. Analysis of these data suggests that differences in the social systems of Aotus, Callicebus, Saimiri, Callimico, Saguinus, Leontopithecus, Cebuella and Callithrix are closely tied to both the costs of reproduction and to the ontogenetic requirements of maturing young. In Saimiri, both rapid prenatal body weight and perinatal brain growth result in relatively high metabolic costs to breeding females. These costs, coupled with minimal nonmaternal assistance in caregiving, appear to favor a reproductive strategy that limits offspring production to a single birth at 2-year intervals. In contrast, tamarins and marmosets are capable of producing twins twice in the same year. Prenatal investment in each offspring is relatively low, and the potentially high postnatal costs of nursing 2 infants are minimized by the evolution of a social system involving extensive extramaternal care-giving. Cooperative infant care in callitrichins (tamarins and marmosets) serves to distribute the metabolic costs of infant ontogeny among several group members. Callimico is also characterized by a high reproductive output, with females capable of producing a single infant twice during the year. Infants continue to grow rapidly after weaning. Patterns of infant development in Callimico are similar to those found in tamarins and marmosets and support a close phylogenetic relationship among these taxa. Aotus and Callicebus are characterized by an alternative strategy. In these taxa, a monogamous mating system is associated with paternal certainty, male parental care, and provisioning of the young. The transfer of male energetic resources to a single offspring allows night and titi monkeys to maintain a comparatively short interbirth interval (1 year). Ecological and social factors, such as predation and feeding competition, do not appear to adequately explain much of the observed variation in infant development and preadult growth rates in these platyrrhines. Instead, reproductive strategies are strongly linked to ontogenetic patterns and life histories.

Aging↗

PubMed1979

Effects of chronic lead ingestion on social development in infant rhesus monkeys.

The social behavior of infant rhesus monkeys during the first year of life was examined under a variety of lead (Pb) exposure conditions in four separate experiments. Daily ingestion of PB acetate in milk for one year elevated blood Pb levels to 30-100 microgram/dl, suppressed play, increased social clinging, and exacerbated the disruption of social behavior caused by changing the play environment midway through the year of observation. The presence of control monkeys in social test-groups reduced the magnitude of Pb-induced social behavior changes. In contrast to daily postnatal Pb exposure, chronic exposure to Pb during gestation had no measurable effect on postnatal social development, and acute, transient postnatal Pb exposure (producing blood Pb levels > 200 microgram/dl during month 2 of life) affected only the monkeys' response to the change in the plan environment. These data suggest that daily ingestion of Pb, and not a previously-acquired tissue burden, was responsible for the long-term changes in social development observed. The results are discussed in the general context of primate social development, which is thought to require adequate interactive play for appropriate social integration and reproductive behavior at maturity.

Aging↗

PubMed2005

The relationship of postoperative electrographic seizures to neurodevelopmental outcome at 1 year of age after neonatal and infant cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The occurrence of a seizure after the arterial switch operation is associated with a worse long-term neurodevelopmental outcome. The significance of seizures after neonatal and infant repair of other congenital heart defects is not known. METHODS: A recent study at our institution demonstrated seizures documented by 48-hour electroencephalographic monitoring in 20 (11%) of 178 neonates and infants after surgery for complex congenital heart defects, including hypoplastic left heart syndrome or variants. The developmental outcomes of this cohort were evaluated at 1 year of age by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II, which yields 2 scores: the Mental Developmental Index and the Psychomotor Developmental Index. RESULTS: Developmental evaluations were performed in 114 (70%) of 164 survivors, including 36 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Postoperative electroencephalographic seizures had occurred in 15 (13%) of 114 of the entire group and in 8 (22%) of 36 of those with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. For the entire cohort, the Mental Developmental Index was 92.3 +/- 13.5, and the Psychomotor Developmental Index was 79.9 +/- 18.8 for patients without seizures, compared with 90.3 +/- 10.7 and 74.4 +/- 19.3 for those with seizures (both P > .5). For the hypoplastic left heart syndrome subgroup, the Mental Developmental Index was 92.3 +/- 14.9, and the Psychomotor Developmental Index was 74.8 +/- 19.3 for patients with seizures, compared with 91.9 +/- 12.4 and 73.9 +/- 18.3 for those without seizures (both P > .5). A frontal onset of seizures was predictive of a lower score on the Psychomotor Developmental Index, but not on the Mental Developmental Index. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of a seizure after cardiac operation is a marker of central nervous system injury. However, in this cohort of neonates and infants with complex congenital heart defects, the occurrence of a seizure was not predictive of a worse developmental outcome at 1 year of age as assessed by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II.

Cardiac Surgical Procedures↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The development in infant rats of kassinin's potent and selective control of cell-dehydration thirst.

In infant rats, kassinin exerts its antidipsogenic effect in the very early stages of neonatal life (2nd-3rd day). The inhibition of cell-dehydration drinking appears in rats of 2 days, and attains adult levels in pups of 9 days. Instead, the thirsts induced by suckling deprivation or by intracerebroventricular angiotensin II are inhibited by kassinin precociously (3rd day), but are unaffected by it in rats of 12-15 days. Kassinin also inhibits milk intake very early (3rd day) and this effect also disappears at 12 days of age. The pattern of ontogenetic results described here may be that of a brain kassinin-like tachykinin that, in the course of the development of the neural structures on which it acts, gains potent and selective control of cell-dehydration thirst.

Angiotensin II↗

PubMed1998

Rift Valley lake fish and shellfish provided brain-specific nutrition for early Homo.

An abundant, balanced dietary intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids is an absolute requirement for sustaining the very rapid expansion of the hominid cerebral cortex during the last one to two million years. The brain contains 600 g lipid/kg, with a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid profile containing approximately equal proportions of arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid deficiency at any stage of fetal and/or infant development can result in irreversible failure to accomplish specific components of brain growth. For the past fifteen million years, the East African Rift Valley has been a unique geological environment which contains many enormous freshwater lakes. Paleoanthropological evidence clearly indicates that hominids evolved in East Africa, and that early Homo inhabited the Rift Valley lake shores. Although earlier hominid species migrated to Eurasia, modern Homo sapiens is believed to have originated in Africa between 100 and 200 thousand years ago, and subsequently migrated throughout the world. A shift in the hominid resource base towards more high-quality foods occurred approximately two million years ago; this was accompanied by an increase in relative brain size and a shift towards modern patterns of fetal and infant development. There is evidence for both meat and fish scavenging, although sophisticated tool industries and organized hunting had not yet developed. The earliest occurrences of modern H. sapiens and sophisticated tool technology are associated with aquatic resource bases. Tropical freshwater fish and shellfish have long-chain polyunsaturated lipid ratios more similar to that of the human brain than any other food source known. Consistent consumption of lacustrine foods could have provided a means of initiating and sustaining cerebral cortex growth without an attendant increase in body mass. A modest intake of fish and shellfish (6-12% total dietary energy intake) can provide more arachidonic acid and especially more docosahexaenoic acid than most diets contain today. Hence, 'brain-specific' nutrition had and still has significant potential to affect hominid brain evolution.

Africa, Eastern↗

PubMed1989

Behaviour in first year after drug dependent pregnancy.

Neurobehavioural development of a group of 35 infants of drug dependent mothers and of a reference group of 37 infants was compared. Two tailed testing showed that at the age of 3 months the infants of drug dependent mothers seemed to be more active than the reference group; at 6 months, however, no difference was found. On the infant behaviour temperament questionnaire, infants of drug dependent mothers tended to have slightly better scores for 'duration of orienting' at the age of 9 months; five other dimensions of behaviour did not differ between the groups. The Bayley scales of infant development and neurological examination according to the method of Touwen did not show any significant differences among the groups at the ages of 6 or 12 months. At 12 months infants of drug dependent mothers had slightly but not significantly worse results on electroencephalography. Studied with multidisciplinary measurements, the development of infants of drug dependent mothers does not seem to diverge particularly from the development of the reference group.

Child Behavior↗

PubMed2005

Peripheral vision can influence eye growth and refractive development in infant monkeys.

PURPOSE: Given the prominence of central vision in humans, it has been assumed that visual signals from the fovea dominate emmetropization. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of peripheral vision on emmetropization. METHODS: Bilateral, peripheral form deprivation was produced in 12 infant monkeys by rearing them with diffusers that had either 4- or 8-mm apertures centered on the pupils of each eye, to allow 24 degrees or 37 degrees of unrestricted central vision, respectively. At the end of the lens-rearing period, an argon laser was used to ablate the fovea in one eye of each of seven monkeys. Subsequently, all the animals were allowed unrestricted vision. Refractive error and axial dimensions were measured along the pupillary axis by retinoscopy and A-scan ultrasonography, respectively. Control data were obtained from 21 normal monkeys and 3 infants reared with binocular plano lenses. RESULTS: Nine of the 12 treated monkeys had refractive errors that fell outside the 10th- and 90th-percentile limits for the age-matched control subjects, and the average refractive error for the treated animals was more variable and significantly less hyperopic/more myopic (+0.03 +/- 2.39 D vs. +2.39 +/- 0.92 D). The refractive changes were symmetric in the two eyes of a given animal and axial in nature. After lens removal, all the treated monkeys recovered from the induced refractive errors. No interocular differences in the recovery process were observed in the animals with monocular foveal lesions. CONCLUSIONS: On the one hand, the peripheral retina can contribute to emmetropizing responses and to ametropias produced by an abnormal visual experience. On the other hand, unrestricted central vision is not sufficient to ensure normal refractive development, and the fovea is not essential for emmetropizing responses.

Animals↗

PubMed1975

[Artificial nursing of new-born cynomolgus monkeys as a model of the human infant and development of abnormal behavior (author's transl)].

New-born cynomolgus monkeys were sucessfully reared by artificial nursing that was started just afterbirth with a 12% solution of a commercially prepared powdered-milk (Yukijirushi, P 7a) containing 13.3g of protein per 100g. Marked growth-retardation was observed in baby cynomolgus monkeys fed on a 12% solution of the modified P 7a milk containing only 6.6g of protein per 100g to which lactose was supplemented to give a baby monkey the same caloric value as that of the original P 7a milk. These artificially reared cynomolgus monkeys manifested various kinds of abnormal behavior such as self-clasping, autism-like self mouthing, huddling, stereotype rocking, head-knocking, autoerotism, fear, aggression, etc.. Generally, development of these abnormal behaviors was more noticeable in the monkeys nursed with a milk bottle fixed to the side of a cage without human contact than in the monkeys nursed by a care-taker with bodily touching. These qualitative observational results indicate that the new-born cynomolgus monkey can be used as a model of the human baby for research into the relationship between malnutrition and abnormal physical and mental growth.

Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena↗

PubMed2003

Infant formulas. Recent developments and new issues.

Infant formulas on the market today should be aimed at providing the best alternative to breast milk for infants of those women who are unable to continue breastfeeding until 6 months of age and substituting ideally for human milk after 6 months of age approaching the structural and functional effects observed in breastfed infants. The aim is to mimic the functional outcome of the breastfed infant (e.g. growth and development), and not to copy the composition of human milk. For this purpose, the following compounds have been added to formulas and are reviewed: long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) for brain composition and neurodevelopment, probiotics and prebiotics for the fecal flora and the local intestinal defense, and nucleotides for promoting the immune response. Changes in protein quantity and quality allow to balance the blood amino acid pattern (possibly relevant to the early stages of brain development for the neurotransmitter function) and reducing the protein intake could be important for the prevention of later overweight. Hydrolysed proteins are important in the prevention of atopic disorders. Many trials have been published so far with short-term assessments, most of them with positive findings. However, we need more data on the long-term follow-up of infants who were fed the new formulas. Such data will allow to look at neural performance, prevention of overweight and obesity, and effects on the immune-allergic pattern.

Dietary Proteins↗

PubMed2001

Relations between the development of patterns of sleeping heart rate and body temperature in infants.

Overnight patterns of rectal temperature and heart rate were recorded from 119 normal infants at weekly intervals from 7 to about 16 weeks of age. All data were collected in the infants' own homes. As previously reported, different infants developed an adult-like night time rectal temperature pattern abruptly at different ages. When heart rate data were collated by age, there was an apparently gradual fall in sleeping heart rate from 7 to about 14 weeks of age. This was, however, an artefact of data collation. Individual infants showed abrupt falls in heart rate at the time that the adult-like body temperature pattern appeared, but this occurred at different ages in different babies, so when data were collated cross sectionally, an apparently gradual fall resulted. The relation between the developmental changes in sleeping heart rate and rectal temperature was different in boys and girls, with girls showing a more abrupt and greater change in heart rate at the time of development of the adult-like body temperature pattern. Infants whose parents smoked had significantly lower heart rates once the adult-like body temperature pattern had appeared.

Aging↗

PubMed2001

Spectrum of outcome in infants with extreme neonatal jaundice.

UNLABELLED: The increasing number of case reports on neurologic sequelae related to hyperbilirubinaemia may represent a re-emergence of kernicterus in the industrialized world. However, not much has been written about infants who survived extreme levels of serum bilirubin without neurologic damage. We present three cases of extreme neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia, all with peak serum bilirubin levels >600 micromol/L. Two of the infants developed neurologic sequelae, but the third infant did not. In contrast to the two with sequelae, the infant without sequelae was female, had a positive Coombs' test, less clinical signs compatible with bilirubin encephalopathy, and a shorter exposure to serum bilirubin values >400 micromol/L. CONCLUSION: The basic mechanism of bilirubin neurotoxicity remains unknown, and it is not clear why some infants do not develop neurologic injury at serum bilirubin levels at which others do. We speculate that a comparison between patients with sequelae and those without may yield important information.

Bilirubin↗

PubMed1995

[Unexpected intraoperative respiratory distress; an infant who developed tracheomalacia and fatal aortoesophageal fistula due to unrecognized vascular ring].

Vascular rings cause respiratory distress and dysphasia by tracheoesophageal compression. We present a case of tracheomalasia and fatal aortoesophageal fistula due to unrecognized vascular ring. A 3-month-old (7.3 kg) boy underwent V-P shunt operation under sevoflurane anesthesia. The trachea was intubated easily using vecuronium with a relatively large-size tube with a diameter of 4.5 mm, because of leakage. Gastric intubation was difficult. During scrubbing of the head, an asthma-like respiratory distress suddenly occurred. The condition responded poorly to ventilatory support and pharmacological interventions. Although intraoperative fiberscopy through the tracheal tube and chest X-ray showed no tracheobroncheal abnormality, postoperative fiberscopy revealed a tracheomalacia. Adequate ventilation was possible only when the tip of the tracheal tube was located between the stenotic part and the tracheal carina. On the 9th postoperative day, during respiratory management with a tracheal tube, fatal esophageal hemorrhage broke out. Postmortern examination revealed a double aortic arch with tracheal stenosis and aortoesophageal fistula. The nasogastric tube may have led to fistula formation by compression of the esophageal wall against an anomalous vessel. When anesthetists encounter an infantile respiratory distress, even in perioperative period, vascular rings should be taken into consideration.

Aorta, Thoracic↗

PubMed1973

Nutrition and development of infants from poor rural areas. III. Maternal nutrition and its consequences on fertility.

To test the hypothesis that malnutrition alters fertility, the reproductive pattern of a poor rural community with a high natality rate was studied. A late menarche age (15.5 +or- 1.5 years) and an early menopause (40.4 +or- 2.5 years) were found and resulted in a short reproductive period of 25 years. In all, there were 8.8 +or- 2.7 pregnancies and 7.9 +or- 2.9 deliveries during this period, but only 4.8 +or- 2.2 children reached adulthood. A longitudinal observation was made of 2 groups which were similar in all respects, except that one was supplemented and the other was not. Both groups lactated the entire time between pregnancies as well. The control group recovered fertility 14.0 +or- 4.0 months after delivery while the supplemented group did after only 7.5 +or- 2.6 months; this difference, as well as the difference in recovery times in the experimental group before and after supplementation, were highly significant (P0.001). It may be concluded that undernutrition reduced mothers' fertility in 2 potential ways. It may reduce a woman's reproductive life and it determines an increase in the period between deliveries of more than 40%. Therefore, the high natality rate in this community should not be explained by high individual fertility but rather by the sociocultural characteristics of the community.

Americas↗

PubMed1979

The efficacy of prophylactic antibiotics in cesarean section.

The objective of this investigation was to determine the effectiveness of cefazolin-cephalothin administration as a prophylactic regime in patients undergoing cesarean section. The study was to randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation. Cefazolin, 1.0 gm or placebo was administered intramuscularly on call to the operating room, and cephalothin, 2.0 gm, or placebo was administered intravenously at 6, 12, and 24 hours postoperatively. Ninety-five patients were included in the study with 49 in the placebo group and 46 in the drug group. Nineteen patients developed 28 infections in the placebo group while eight patients developed eight infections in the drug group (P = less than 0.05). Eight patients in the placebo group developed infections at two or more sites whereas no patient in the drug-treated group developed multiple infections. No infant developed infection and no overgrowth of bacteria occurred. This study supports the concept of preoperative antibiotic administration being beneficial to the obstetric patient.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

PubMed1991

Somatic development of the infant monkey following in utero exposure to caffeine.

Caffeine has been associated with a number of reproductive and developmental effects in animals and humans. In an effort to characterize the potential effects of caffeine on the developing infant, 40 adult female monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were randomly divided into three groups and exposed at 0, 0.15, and 0.35 mg/ml (equivalent to 0, 10-15, and 25-30 mg/kg/day, respectively) of caffeine via their drinking water, before, during, and after pregnancy. Maternal blood and milk samples were collected following parturition. Infants were separated from their mothers within 12 hr of birth and were reared in a primate nursery. Blood samples were collected during the first week of life, and body weight, somatic measurements, and food consumption data were collected throughout the first 3 years. Maternal blood and milk concentrations and infant blood concentrations of caffeine and theophylline (the major blood metabolite of caffeine in the monkey) were similar to one another. Infant half-life of these methylxanthines was longer than that of the adult but not as long as that observed in human infants. Body weights and somatic measurements of male infants were significantly reduced over the first 30 days, as were a number of initial somatic measurements in both male and female infants. These deficits were not evident after 1 year of age. There were no treatment-related effects on infant tooth eruption or milk consumption. Results from this study support previously published results from this group of monkeys as well as studies by other researchers in rodents indicating that caffeine consumption during pregnancy can alter infant somatic development.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Early brain injury in premature newborns detected with magnetic resonance imaging is associated with adverse early neurodevelopmental outcome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the neurodevelopmental outcome of prematurely born newborns with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 89 prematurely born newborns (median age 28 weeks postgestation) were studied with MRI when stable for transport to MRI (median age, 32 weeks postgestation); 50 newborns were studied again near term age (median age, 37 weeks). Neurodevelopmental outcome was determined at 18 months adjusted age (median) using the Mental Development Index (Bayley Scales Infant Development II) and a standardized neurologic exam. RESULTS: Of 86 neonatal survivors, outcome was normal in 51 (59%), borderline in 22 (26%), and abnormal in 13 (15%). Moderate/severe MRI abnormalities were common on the first (37%) and second (32%) scans. Abnormal outcome was associated with increasing severity of white matter injury, ventriculomegaly, and intraventricular hemorrhage on MRI, as well as moderate/severe abnormalities on the first (relative risk [RR] = 5.6; P = .002) and second MRI studies (RR = 5.3; P = .03). Neuromotor abnormalities on neurologic examination near term age (RR = 6.5; P = .04) and postnatal infection (RR = 4.0; P = .01) also increased the risk for abnormal neurodevelopmental outcome. CONCLUSIONS: In premature newborns, brain abnormalities are common on MRI early in life and are associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcome.

Brain Injuries↗

PubMed2001

Randomized controlled trial of the effect of zinc supplementation on the mental development of Bangladeshi infants.

BACKGROUND: Zinc deficiency is thought to be common in young children in developing countries and some data suggest that it may detrimentally affect children's development. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to assess the effect of zinc supplementation on the developmental levels and behavior of Bangladeshi infants. DESIGN: This was a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Three hundred one infants aged 1 mo were randomly assigned to receive either 5 mg elemental Zn or placebo daily for 5 mo, and subsequent growth and morbidity were observed. For the present study, developmental levels were assessed in a subsample of 212 infants at 7 and 13 mo of age with use of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, and the infants' behavior during the tests was observed. The children's social backgrounds, weights, and lengths were also recorded. RESULTS: The children's nutritional status was generally poor. The zinc-treated group had slightly lower scores on the mental development index of the Bayley Scales than did the placebo group (beta = 3.7, SE = 1.3, P < 0.005). This effect remained significant when nutritional status and social background were controlled for. No other significant differences between groups were noted. CONCLUSIONS: The mental development index scores of the zinc-treated group were slightly but significantly lower than those of the placebo group. This finding may have been due to micronutrient imbalance. Caution should be exercised when supplementing undernourished infants with a single micronutrient.

Anthropometry↗