Association of Antenatal Corticosteroid Administration-to-delivery Interval With Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Respiratory Support in Preterm Infants

Background: Administration of antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) is an effective strategy for the management of preterm infants, which can improve neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) and attenuate the risk of neonatal mortality. However, many preterm infants do not expose to a complete course of ACS administration, and the effects of different ACS-to-delivery intervals on NRDS and respiratory support remain unclear.we explore the relationships of ACS administration-to-birth intervals with NRDS and respiratory support in preterm infants in this study.Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the preterm infants born between 240/7 and 316/7 wk of gestation were recruited from Jan 2015 to Jul 2021. All participants were categorized based on the time interval from the first ACS dose to delivery: <24 h, 1-2 d, 2-7 d, and more >7 d. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationships between ACS-to-birth interval and primary or secondary outcome, while adjusting for potential confounders.Results: Of the 706 eligible neonates, 264, 83, 292 and 67 received ACS-to-delivery intervals of <24 h, 1-2 d, 2-7 d and >7 d, respectively. After adjusting these confounding factors, multivariable logistic analysis showed a significant increased risk of NRDS (aOR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.2-2.7), neonatal mortality (aOR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.1-6.8), the need for surfactant use (aOR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.7-4.4), endotracheal intubation in delivery room (aOR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.0-3.7), mechanical ventilation (aOR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1-3.4) in the ACS-to-delivery interval of <24 h group when compared with the ACS-to-birth interval of 2-7 d group. Similar findings were observed in the subgroup analysis of the ACS interval of <6 h and 6-12 h groups (incidence of death and surfactant use), but no obvious differences were found in the ACS intervals of 12-24 h, 1-2 d and >7 d groups compared with the ACS-to-birth interval of 2-7 d group.Conclusions: Neonatal outcomes such as NRDS, neonatal mortality, the need for surfactant use, intubation in delivery room, mechanical ventilation are at a higher risk when the neonates exposed to ACS interval for less than 12 h before delivery.

Inhaled Budesonide in Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome of Near-Term Neonates: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE This study evaluates the value of inhaled budesonide (BUD) administration in neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) cases especially for near-term neonates. METHODS A randomized controlled trial involving 120 neonates with respiratory distress, which was diagnosed as RDS, was conducted from July 2016 to March 2018. The neonates studied were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (the inhaled BUD group), consisting of 60 neonates who received BUD (2 mL, 0.25-mg/mL suspension) inhalation, twice daily for 5 days; and group 2 (the placebo group), consisting of 60 neonates with RDS who received humidified distilled sterile water inhalation (2 mL). Downes score, RDS grades, and interleukin 8 (IL-8) levels were monitored and measured on the first and fifth days of incubation. RESULTS Statistically significant differences (SSDs) in RDS grades, Downes score, and IL-8 levels on the fifth day of admission were observed between groups 1 and 2 (p = 0.001) and between the first and fifth days of incubation in group 1 (p = 0.001). The SSDs in the duration of hospitalization (p = 0.001) and the number of neonates receiving mechanical ventilation (p = 0.032) were found between both groups. CONCLUSIONS Budesonide inhalation is associated with improvements in clinical and laboratory parameters in neonates with RDS

Early neonatal respiratory distress revealing meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 17F: a case report

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) is the first leading cause of invasive diseases such as meningitis, bacteremia and pneumoniae in children. In this case we report an early neonatal respiratory distress revealing meningitis caused byS. pneumoniae Serotype 17F through vertical transmission, in the newborn of 3 hours of live. Case description: A male late preterm newborn was born by vaginal delivery at a gestational age of 34 weeks. At 3 hours of life, he was admitted for early moderate neonatal respiratory distress in the Neonatal Medicine and Resuscitation Service.Cerebrospinal fluid culture yielded S. pneumoniae belonging to serotype 17F while the blood culture was negative. The same pneumococcal serotype was recovered from the high vaginal swab of the mother. Both isolates were found susceptible to all tested antibiotics except tetracycline and chloramphenicol to which the strain was resistant. Antibiotherapy management of the child included ceftriaxone at 150mg/kg/day for 21 days, in combination with gentamycin at 5 mg/kg/day for 5 days. ciprofloxacin was added at 40mg/kg/day in two doses for a period of three weeks as the baby presented a hydrocephalus. Conclusion: This finding shows that clinical manifestations of neonatal pneumococcal meningitis may be atypical and/or misleading. Keywords: Streptococcus pneumoniae; neonatal meningitis; respiratory distress.

Roles of Lung Ultrasound Score in the Extubation Failure From Mechanical Ventilation Among Premature Infants With Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of lung ultrasound score (LUS) in the extubation failure from mechanical ventilation (MV) among premature infants with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).Methods: The retrospective cohort study was conducted with a total of 314 RDS newborns who received MV support for over 24 h. After extubation from MV, infants were divided into extubation success and extubation failure groups. Extubation failure was defined as re-intubation within 48 h after extubation. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify the predictors of the extubation failure. The predictive effectiveness of the combined model and LUS in the extubation failure was assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve, area under curve (AUC), and internal validation.Results: 106 infants failed extubation from MV. The combined model for predicting the extubation failure was performed according to the predictors of gestational age, body length, birth weight, and LUS. The AUC of this combined model was 0.871 (sensitivity: 86.67%, specificity: 74.31%). The AUC of LUS was 0.858 (sensitivity: 84.00%, specificity: 80.69%), and the cutoff value was 18. There was no statistical difference in the predictive power between the combined model and LUS (Z = 0.880, P = 0.379). The internal validation result showed that the AUC of LUS was 0.855.Conclusions: LUS presented a good ability in predicting the extubation failure among RDS newborns after MV.

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Budesonide Combined with Pulmonary Surfactants on the Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome by Pulmonary Ultrasonography

Objective. This study aimed to investigate the value of lung ultrasound images in evaluating the efficacy of budesonide combined with pulmonary surfactant (PS) in the treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) in premature infants. Methods. 76 NRDS premature infants admitted to the hospital were randomly divided into experimental group and control group, with 38 children in each group. The premature infants in control group underwent PS, and those in experimental group underwent budesonide combined with PS. After treatment, lung ultrasound imaging was used to evaluate the curative effect, and X-ray results were used as a reference. The changes in clinical signs of two groups were detected, and the pulmonary ultrasound was used to evaluate the clinical efficacy of two groups. The changes in the lung ultrasound score (LUS) and arterial blood gas (ABG) indexes of two groups were compared before and after treatment. Results. LUS and improvement of patients of experimental group were obviously higher than those of the control group after treatment. LUS of experimental group was 12.1 ± 3.7, and that of control group was 18.2 ± 2.3, respectively. The differences were statistically significant ( P < 0.05). The arterial partial oxygen pressure (PaO2) and oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) levels of two groups of patients increased dramatically after treatment. PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2 levels of experimental group were 65.59 ± 12.46 mmHg and 112.57 ± 19.3 mmHg, and those of control group were 45.12 ± 11.21 mmHg and 101.28 ± 21.36 mmHg, respectively. However, arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) level was significantly decreased in two groups after treatment. PaCO2 level of experimental group was 40.24 ± 8.92 mmHg, and that of control group was 41.22 ± 9.24 mmHg, respectively ( P < 0.05). The diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound images in two groups was 95.3% and 96.2%, respectively. Conclusion. Pulmonary ultrasonography showed a high diagnostic accuracy in evaluating the efficacy of budesonide combined with PS in the treatment of NRDS in premature infants. It can evaluate the cardiopulmonary function of premature infants with NRDS and effectively improve the respiratory status of premature infants. In conclusion, this study provided some reference value for upgrading the clinical treatment of NRDS in premature infants.