Objective To construct and evaluate the risk prediction models for low Apgar score in very preterm infants (VPIs) using different machine learning algorithms. Methods From June 2023 to December 2024, a retrospective case‑control study was conducted among VPIs born in the Department of Obstetrics of our hospital. The patients were randomly assigned into a training set and a validation set with a ratio of 3:1. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was used to select the risk factors of low Apgar score in the training set. 1‑min Apgar score ≤7 was defined as the outcome indicator. Four machine learning algorithms: Logistic regression (LR), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM) were used to construct the prediction model. Model performance was evaluated in the validation set using area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity and F1 score. The optimal model was further studied using Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) method. Results A total of 544 cases were enrolled, including 408 in the training set and 136 in the validation set. There were 126 cases with low Apgar scores and 282 cases with normal Apgar scores in the training set. LASSO regression identified 9 predictive factors: gestational age, maternal anemia, antenatal fever, cervical insufficiency, abnormal umbilical artery blood flow, fetal malpresentation, fetal distress, premature rupture of membranes (PROM) and placental abruption. There were 42 cases with low Apgar scores and 94 cases with normal Apgar scores in the validation set. The ROC curve analysis showed that AUCs of LR, XGBoost, RF and SVM were 0.804 (95%CI 0.759‑0.845), 0.795 (95%CI 0.715‑0.868), 0.817 (95%CI 0.730‑0.890) and 0.802 (95%CI 0.750‑0.840), respectively. RF had most balanced sensitivity (0.798, 95%CI 0.665‑0.845) and specificity (0.786, 95%CI 0.628‑0.891) with highest F1 score (0.843). SHAP analysis showed that the influencing factors in the model were ranked by importance as follows: fetal malpresentation, cervical insufficiency, fetal distress, maternal anemia, antenatal fever, gestational age, abnormal umbilical artery blood flow, PROM and placental abruption. Conclusions The model based on RF algorithm has a good predictive efficacy for low Apgar score in VPIs and maybe a useful tool for prenatal risk assessment.

Objective:To study the application effect of family integrated ward in maintaining the optimal target pulse oxygen saturation (SpO 2) in premature infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Methods:This was a retrospective cohort study. Premature infants with BPD admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from June 2019 to January 2022 were enrolled. Based on whether to stay in family integrated ward and implement family integrated care (FICare), these premature infants were divided into the family ward group and the control group. The ratio of optimal target SpO 2 within 24 h before discharge, the duration of home oxygen therapy, and ratio of readmission due to respiratory disease within 6 months after discharge were analyzed between the two groups. Results:During the study period, a total of 167 premature infants with BPD were admitted, including 101 in the family ward group and 66 in the control group. Compared with the control group, the family ward group showed a higher proportion of achieving the optimal target SpO 2 within 24 h before discharge (58.0% vs. 24.0%), shorter duration for home oxygen therapy (7.0 d vs. 12.0 d), and a lower readmission rate within 6 months after discharge (16.5% vs. 30.2%), which had statistically significant difference (all P<0.05). Further regression analysis showed that participating in the family integrated ward significantly reduced the demand for home oxygen therapy and the duration of home oxygen therapy, but had no significant impact on the readmission rate within 6 months after discharge. Conclusions:Family integrated ward can effectively increase the proportion of achieving the optimal target SpO 2 for premature infants with BPD within 24 h before discharge, reduce the demand for home oxygen therapy, and shorten the time of home oxygen therapy after discharge, which is beneficial for improving the living quality of premature infants with BPD.

Objective:To determine the predictive value of high-frequency ultrasonography for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) requiring surgical treatment in neonates.Methods:From January 2018 to December 2021, neonates diagnosed with NEC (Bell stage Ⅱ and above) in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The neonates were assigned into surgical group and non-surgical group according to the treatment. The following ultrasonography results were compared between the two groups: intestinal motility, gastrointestinal (GI) wall perfusion, pneumatosis intestinalis (PI), portal vein gas, peritoneal effusion translucency, depth of ascites fluid and GI wall thickness. Logistic regression was used to determine risk factors of surgical treatment for NEC. ROC curve was drawn to calculate the predictive value of combined and individual factors for NEC requiring surgical treatment.Results:A total of 40 neonates were enrolled, including 18 in the surgical group and 22 in the non-surgical group. No significant differences existed between the two groups in PI and depth of ascites fluid ( P>0.05). The surgical group had higher incidences of decreased intestinal motility, portal vein gas, reduced GI wall perfusion, poor peritoneal effusion translucency and thinner GI wall than the non-surgical group (all P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that poor translucency of peritoneal effusion, thinning of GI wall, reduced GI wall perfusion and decreased intestinal motility were risk factors for surgical treatment of NEC. ROC curve showed that the cut-off value predicting surgical treatment based on GI wall thickness was 1.2 mm, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.746, sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 65.6%. The AUC of the combined factors predicting surgical treatment was 0.867, with sensitivity of 96.9% and specificity of 75.8%. Conclusions:Decreased intestinal motility and GI wall perfusion, thinning of GI wall and poor peritoneal effusion translucency on high-frequency ultrasonography have high predictive efficacy for the need of surgical treatment in the acute phase of NEC.

Objective:To study the clinical manifestations, genetic profiles and treatment of Kagami-Ogata syndrome (KOS).Methods:A neonate admitted to our hospital was genetically diagnosed of KOS from amniocentesis sampling. The phenotype, genotype and treatment of the neonate were analyzed. Multiple databases were searched using key words including "Kagami-Ogata syndrome", "14q32 microdeletion syndrome", "coat-hanger ribs", "paternal uniparental disomy (pUPD)(14) " from the inception of the databases to Jan. 23th 2023. The clinical features, genotype and treatment of patients from the literature were summarized.Results:The neonate in our hospital was born at 30 weeks gestational age with a birth weight of 2 035 g. Prenatal ultrasound indicated overgrowth, bilateral fetal renal pelvis dilatation (FRPD), dilatation of intestines in lower abdomen, clenched hands with overlapping fingers and polyhydramnios. After birth, the neonate showed progressively worsening respiratory distress, distinct facial features (small jaw, short neck, flat nasal bridge, upward-facing nostrils, small and malformed ears with auricular deformity and narrow external auditory canals), bell-shaped thorax, diastasis recti and abnormal posture (overlapping fingers, clenched fists), as well as feeding difficulties, recurrent fever and dependence of respiratory support. Whole exome sequencing (WES) revealed a 268.2Kb deletion (101034306_101302541) in 14q32.2 region on both the neonate and the mother and the father was otherwise normal. The prognosis was poor and the parents refused further treatment. The neonate died at one month of age after two days of palliative care. A total of 36 articles were identified in the literature review, including 78 KOS cases with complete clinical data (a total of 79 cases adding our case).The primary clinical manifestations included distinctive facial and thoracic abnormalities (79/79, 100%), polyhydramnios (71/75, 94.7%), feeding difficulties (55/63, 87.3%), abdominal wall defects (57/72, 79.2%), joint contractures (39/70, 55.7%) and dependence of respiratory support (29/56, 51.8%). Long-term follow-up revealed 86.8% (59/68) experienced physical, movement and intellectual development delay, 39.7% (25/63) died or gave up treatments within five years. Genetic testing showed pUPD in 44 cases (55.7%), maternal deletions in 23 cases (29.1%), epimutations in 8 cases (10.1%) and unreported variations in 4 cases (5.1%).Conclusions:KOS is a genetic imprinting disorder affecting multiple organs. Prenatal screening can detect abnormalities such as polyhydramnios. Specific clinical signs, radiological findings and 14q32 gene analysis are helpful for the diagnosis of the disease.

Objective:To study the clinical and genetic features of neonatal Schaaf-Yang Syndrome (SYS).Methods:The clinical data of a newborn with SYS admitted to our hospital in October 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Using "Schaaf-Yang syndrome", "newborn", "preterm", "neonate" as keywords, we searched the CNKI, Wanfang Database, VIP database, Chinese Medical Journal Full Text Database, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library for literature published during the date of establishment to March 24th, 2023. The clinical and genetic features of neonatal SYS from published literature were summarized.Results:The patient in this case was a female preterm infant with a gestational age of 33 +3 weeks, characterized by epiglottic collapse, hypotonia, poor response, weak sucking and swallowing, respiratory failure, and abnormalities such as bilateral low ear position and short limbs. The patient received symptomatic treatment, often failed to withdraw the ventilator, and had difficulty intubating. Meanwhile, whole exome sequencing identified a de novo truncated variant c.2892del (p.Trp965Glyfs*3) in the MAGEL2 gene of the patient. At 30 d after birth, the patient died after giving up treatment by her family. A total of 11 retrieved literatures had neonatal records, including 17 cases. The clinical features involved joint contracture (15/17), hypotonia (14/17), respiratory failure (12/17), and feeding difficulties (12/17). Most of the gene variation was truncated mutation, and only 1 heterozygote deletion mutation was found. These gene variation included c.1996dupC(p.Gln-666Profs*47) variation in 7 cases, c.1912C>T(p.Q638X) variation in 3 cases, c.1996C>T(p.Q666*) in 1 case, c.2847-2883del37 in 1 case, c.2118delT(p.Leu708Trpfs*7) in 1 case, c.1850G>A(p.RP617*) in 1 case, c.2167delG (p.Ala723Profs*4) in 1 case, c.2005C>T(p.Gln669) in 1 case, c.2892del(p.Trp965Glyfs*3) in 1 case, respectively. Conclusions:The main manifestations of neonatal SYS included hypotonia, feeding difficulties, respiratory failure and joint contracture. Most of the mutations were truncated mutations of c.1996dupC (p.Gln-666Profs*47).

Objective:To study the clinical manifestations and genetic characteristics of neonatal-onset primary mitochondrial disease (PMD) caused by nuclear gene mutations.Methods:From May 2020 to March 2022, the clinical data, genetic results and follow-up information of neonates with PMD admitted to the Department of Neonatology of our two hospitals were retrospectively analyzed.Results:A total of 4 patients were enrolled, all with hyperlactatemia and metabolic acidosis. In case 1, the fetal cranial MRI showed agenesis of corpus callosum. In case 2, echocardiography after birth indicated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Whole exome sequencing found the following mutations: EARS2 nuclear gene c.1294C>T and c.971G>T variants, COA6 nuclear gene c.411_412insAAAG variant, ACAD9 nuclear gene c.1278+1G>A and c.895A>T variants, FOXRED1 nuclear gene c.1054C>T and c.3dup variants. Mitochondrial second-generation sequencing and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification showed no abnormalities. Cases 1 and 3 died during the neonatal period. Case 2 died at 2-year-and-2-month of age. Case 4 was followed up to 1 year of age with developmental delay.Conclusions:The main phenotypes of neonatal-onset PMD caused by nuclear gene mutations are hyperlactatemia, refractory metabolic acidosis and cardiomyopathy, which have a poor prognosis. Proactive genetic tests are helpful for early diagnosis.

Objective:We applied a hypoxia-induced model of human fetal retinal microvascular endothelial cell (RMEC) to study the effect of carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9) on cell proliferation.Methods:The eyeballs of spontaneously aborted fetuses in Guangdong Women and Children's Hospital were obtained, and the retinas were isolated. RMEC was obtained by trypsin and collagenase two-step enzyme digestion, and endothelial cells were identified by CD34. The fetal RMEC and the purchased adult RMEC were cultured in normoxic and hypoxic incubators (1%O 2+5%CO 2+94%N 2), and the expression of CA9 was detected by qPCR and Western blot. After knocking down the CA9 by small interference RNA technique, the cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 method, and the cell viability was detected by CCK-8 after adding CA9 inhibitor U-104. Results:The primary RMEC was extracted successfully. Immunofluorescence staining showed the percentage of CD34 positive cells in the third-generation cells was nearly 100%. The expression of CA9 mRNA in immature fetus and adult RMEC under hypoxia culture was higher than that under normoxic culture (fetal 1% O 2 group vs. fetal 21% O 2 group: 67.80±10.31 vs. 1.00±0.04, P<0.001; adult 1% O 2 group vs. adult 21% O 2 group: 1.72±0.22 vs. 1.00±0.02, P=0.014). Western blot analysis showed significantly increased expression of CA9 in the fetal RMEC exposed to hypoxia, which aligned with the expression of CA9 mRNA. When fetal RMEC was transfected with siCA9 20 nM, the knockdown rate of CA9 was 95% ( P<0.001). CCK-8 assay showed significantly lower proliferation of fetal RMEC cells in siCA9 group compared to siNC group (0.57±0.05 vs. 0.90±0.03, P<0.001), which was reflected by the OD value. With the addition of 100 μM CA9 inhibitor U-104, the viability of fetal RMEC in the treated groupwas significantly lower than that in the untreated group (99.16%±3.82% vs. 119.10% ±1.72%, P=0.002). Conclusions:The expression of CA9 differed between adult and preterm fetus in our hypoxia-induced RMEC model. Inhibiting CA9 can inhibit the proliferation of retinal microvascular endothelial cells of preterm fetus.

Objective:To study the clinical characteristics of congenital esophageal atresia (CEA) and risk factors of mortality associated with esophageal repair (ER) surgery.Methods:From January 2010 to December 2022, patients diagnosed of CEA using chest and abdomen X-ray and esophagography in our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were assigned into ER group and non-ER group according to the treatments. The ER group was subgrouped into survival group and death group according to the prognosis. Clinical data and outcomes were collected and compared between the groups.Results:A total of 553 cases were enrolled. According to Gross classification, 29 patients (5.2%) were type A, 2 patients (0.4%) were type B, 504 patients (91.1%) were type C, 6 patients (1.1%) were type D and 11 patients (2.0%) were type E. One patient had simple transluminal septal atresia of the esophagus. 406 patients were in ER group and 147 in non-ER group. Compared with ER group, non-ER group had significantly higher incidences of preterm birth, low birth weight and overall malformations (all P<0.05). In ER group, 152 patients (37.4%) received open thoracic surgery (OTS), 243 (59.9%) had video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and 11 (2.7%) were VATS converted to OTS. Postoperative anastomotic leakage (PAL) occurred in 92 patients (22.7%) and 15 patients (3.7%) died after surgery. The median length of hospital stay was 23 (17, 36) d. Compared with the survival group, the death group had higher incidences of preterm birth, low birth weight, VATS converted to OTS, mechanical ventilation after ER, and shorter length of hospital stay (all P<0.05). After adjusted for birth weight, VATS converted to OTS ( OR=9.585, 95% CI 1.899-48.374) and mechanical ventilation after ER ( OR=7.821, 95% CI 1.002-61.057) were risk factors of mortality in ER patients. Conclusions:Non-ER patients have higher incidences of preterm birth, low birth weight and overall malformations than ER patients. VATS is the method of choice for CEA. Preterm birth, low birth weight, VATS converted to OTS and mechanical ventilation after ER are risk factors of mortality in ER patients.

Objective:To summarize the clinical features of primary segmental volvulus (PSV) in neonates.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of neonates with PSV who were admitted to the Department of Neonatal Surgery, Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics from May 2014 to May 2023. The clinical manifestations, auxiliary examinations, treatment and prognosis of the neonates were summarized, and descriptive statistical analysis was performed on the collected data.Results:A total of 10 neonates with PSV were included, with a mean gestational age of (34.1±3.0) weeks and birth weight of (2 291±646) g. Eight cases had an onset age of 3 d or less, and 2 cases had an onset age of more than 3 d. Abdominal distension was observed as the main manifestation in all cases, while bilious vomiting occurred in seven cases and hematochezia in five cases. Imaging examinations mainly revealed low intestinal obstruction without specific manifestations. Laboratory tests showed metabolic acidosis and varing degrees of anaemia. Nine cases underwent diagnostic abdominal puncture, of which five had bloody ascites, two had clear ascites, one had bloody mixed with fecal-like ascites, and one had chylous ascites. All the cases underwent emergency exploratory laparotomy and segmental small bowel resections with either primary intestinal anastomosis or enterostomy. All cases were successfully cured and had been followed up to the age of 4 months to 9 years with good growth and development as normal children of the same age.Conclusions:Neonatal PSV is an independent abdominal emergency characterized by non-specific clinical manifestations and difficult preoperative diagnosis, but the overall prognosis is favorable after active surgical treatment.

Objective:To study the clinical features and risk factors of prognosis of neonatal appendicitis.Methods:From January 2014 to December 2022, all infants with neonatal appendicitis and received surgery in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed.Results:A total of 6 cases were enrolled, including 1 boy and 5 girls, with gestational age 36-40 weeks, birth weight 1 990~3 300 g, age of admission 5-11 d and time from illness onset to admission 0.5-4 d. All infants had abdominal distension, combined with vomiting in 4 cases, fever in 3 cases and blood in stool in 1 case. Gastrointestinal perforation was found on preoperative abdominal X-ray in 5 cases. All 6 cases received surgery and confirmed the diagnosis of appendicitis with perforation during the surgery. Appendectomy was performed without mortality. 1 case had Amyand hernia and received high ligation of the hernia sac during operation. 1 case had meningitis and was cured after 3 weeks of antibiotic treatment. 1 case developed adhesive intestinal obstruction 3 months after surgery and underwent intestinal adhesiolysis. One case developed colonic stenosis one month after surgery. The stenotic segment of the colon was resected and primary intestinal anastomosis was performed.Conclusions:Neonatal appendicitis progresses rapidly and is difficult to diagnose. The possibility of appendicitis with perforation should be considered when preoperative abdominal X-ray suggesting pneumoperitoneum. Intraoperatively, it is necessary to pay attention to the relationship between appendiceal perforation and other lesions for comprehensive treatment, and change the surgical approach accordingly.