Objective:To develop a risk prediction model for identifying bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) associated pulmonary hypertension (PH) in very premature infants.Methods:This was a retrospective cohort study. The clinical data of 626 very premature infants whose gestational age <32 weeks and who suffered from BPD were collected from October 1 st, 2015 to December 31 st, 2021 of the Seventh Medical Center of the People′s Liberation Army General Hospital as a modeling set. The clinical data of 229 very premature infants with BPD of Hunan Children′s Hospital from January 1 st, 2020 to December 31 st, 2021 were collected as a validation set for external verification. The very premature infants with BPD were divided into PH group and non PH group based on the echocardiogram after 36 weeks′ corrected age in the modeling set and validation set, respectively. Univariate analysis was used to compare the basic clinical characteristics between groups, and collinearity exclusion was carried out between variables. The risk factors of BPD associated PH were further screened out by multivariate Logistic regression, and the risk assessment model was established based on these variables. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under curve (AUC) and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test were used to evaluate the model′s discrimination and calibration power, respectively. And the calibration curve was used to evaluate the accuracy of the model and draw the nomogram. The bootstrap repeated sampling method was used for internal verification. Finally, decision curve analysis (DCA) to evaluate the clinical practicability of the model was used. Results:A total of 626 very premature infants with BPD were included for modeling set, including 85 very premature infants in the PH group and 541 very premature infants in the non PH group. A total of 229 very premature infants with BPD were included for validation set, including 24 very premature infants in the PH group and 205 very premature infants in the non PH group. Univariate analysis of the modeling set found that 22 variables, such as artificial conception, fetal distress, gestational age, birth weight, small for gestational age, 1 minute Apgar score ≤7, antenatal corticosteroids, placental abruption, oligohydramnios, multiple pulmonary surfactant, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS)>stage Ⅱ, early pulmonary hypertension, moderate-severe BPD, and hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA) all had statistically significant influence between the PH group and the non PH group (all P<0.05). Antenatal corticosteroids, fetal distress, NRDS >stage Ⅱ, hsPDA, pneumonia and days of invasive mechanical ventilation were identified as predictive variables and finally included to establish the Logistic regression model. The AUC of this model was 0.86 (95% CI 0.82-0.90), the cut-off value was 0.17, the sensitivity was 0.77, and the specificity was 0.84. Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test showed that P>0.05. The AUC for external validation was 0.88, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test suggested P>0.05. Conclusions:A high sensitivity and specificity risk prediction model of PBD associated PH in very premature infants was established. This predictive model is useful for early clinical identification of infants at high risk of BPD associated PH.

Objective:To study the clinical features and treatment strategy of neonatal ureaplasma meningitis.Methods:During 2021, the clinical data of 2 neonates with ureaplasma meningitis treated in Children's Hospital of Hunan Province were retrospectively analyzed. Literature on this subject were searched in the following databases: CNKI, Wanfang Database, Chinese Medical Journal Full-Text Database, CQVIP database, SinoMed, PubMed, Embase and Web of Science (up to March 2022). The key words included “infant”, “neonate”, “newborn”, “ureaplasma”, “mycoplasma urealytium”, “meningitis”, “central nervous system infection”, “brain”. The clinical data, treatment and prognosis of patients from the literature were summarized.Results:Case 1, female, gestational age(GA) 33 +3 weeks, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and ventricular dilatation were found on 2 d after birth. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) routine and biochemistry tests indicated meningitis, but the CSF culture was negative. No improvement after antibiotic treatment. CSF metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and 23S rRNA showed Ureaplasma urealyticum on 30 d after birth. The patient was treated with doxycycline (DOX) for 21 d until mNGS turned negative and DOX was discontinued. However, the disease recurred 23 d later and erythromycin was added with DOX as combined therapy. The patient was followed up until 6 months without neurodevelopmental disabilities. Case 2, male, GA 26 weeks, ICH and ventricular dilatation were found on 10 d after birth. The CSF routine and biochemistry tests indicated meningitis, but the CSF culture was negative. No improvement after antibiotic treatment. CSF mNGS and 23S rRNA showed Ureaplasma parvum. The patient received erythromycin therapy for 32 d and had normal neurodevelopment at 5 months. According to the literature, 43 cases were reported including the 2 cases descirbed above, 17 cases were full-term infants and 26 cases were preterm infants. The median CSF leukocytes, glucose and proteins were 566 cells/mm 3, 0.2 mmol/L and 2.2 g/L. 27 cases were diagnosed based on CSF culture, 6 cases using mNGS, 4 cases with both CSF culture and PCR method and 6 cases with other methods. Macrolides alone were used in 14 cases, macrolides combined with another antibiotic were used in 8 cases, non-macrolide antibiotics were used in 9 cases and 12 cases didn't receive any anti-ureaplasma therapy. All 17 term infants survived, however, 8 cases with hydrocephalus. Among the 26 preterm infants, 8 patients died, 18 patients had periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage and 15 patients had hydrocephalus. Conclusions:Neonatal ureaplasma meningitis has significantly lower CSF glucose level with hydrocephalus as the common complication. For intracranial infections of unknown etiology and no response to treatment, mNGS is helpful in determining the pathogen.Neonatal ureaplasma meningitis should be treated with macrolides alone or as add-on therapy.

Objective:To study the risk factors and prognosis of pulmonary hypertension(PH) associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in extremely preterm infants(EPIs).Methods:From January 2020 to December 2021, EPIs [gestational age (GA) <32 w] with BPD admitted to NICU of our hospital were retrospectively assigned into two groups: BPD with late-onset PH(PH group) and BPD without late-onset PH(non-PH group). Their general condition, treatment and prognosis were compared and the risk factors of late-onset PH were analyzed.Results:A total of 229 EPIs with BPD were enrolled, including 24(10.5%) in the PH group and 205(89.5%) in the non-PH group. The PH group had significantly smaller GA [(27.9±2.3) w vs. (28.7±1.8) w], longer mechanical ventilation [42.0(16.0, 84.0) d vs. 9.0(2.0, 23.0) d], longer hospital stay [100.5(86.3, 142.0) d vs. 77.0(56.5, 96.5)d],higher incidence of early-onset PH(54.2% vs. 9.3%) and higher mortality rate(33.3% vs. 9.8%) than the non-PH group ( P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed prolonged mechanical ventilation ( OR=1.046, 95% CI 1.011~1.064), early-onset PH ( OR=5.414, 95% CI 1.796~16.323) were independent risk factors for BPD with late-onset PH. 8(33.3%) patients in the PH group died, including 2 with grade Ⅱ BPD and 6 grade Ⅲ BPD. Conclusions:Prolonged mechanical ventilation and early-onset PH are independent risk factors for late-onset PH in BPD infants. BPD infants with late-onset PH have longer hospital stay, higher mortality and worse prognosis.

Objective:To summarize the situation of dead newborns and their parents after parents gave up treatment, and analyze the reasons and emotional needs of parents who gave up treatment, so as to provide reference for reducing neonatal mortality and negative emotions of parents.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to collect the data of neonates and mothers who died after giving up treatment reported in Hunan Children′s Hospital from January 2019 to December 2021. The general information, perinatal risk factors, and the incidence of in-hospital diseases were analyzed. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of newborns who died after giving up treatment from February to December 2021. Understand why parents give up treatment and their emotional needs.Results:A total of 172 newborns died after giving up were included in the analysis, including 103 males (59.88%) and 74 premature infants (43.02%); Umbilical cord, placenta and amniotic fluid abnormalities were 21 cases (12.21%), 39 cases (22.67%) and 25 cases (14.53%), respectively. Birth asphyxia was 31 cases (18.02%), including severe asphyxia in 18 cases (10.46%); There were 21 (12.21%), 35 (20.35%) and 30 (17.44%) cases of maternal infection in the third trimester, hypertension in pregnancy and diabetes in pregnancy, respectively. The top three causes of death were septicemia (18.02%), congenital malformation (16.86%) and severe pneumonia (10.47%). The main reason why parents give up treatment was that the child′s disease was critical and irreversible, and parents had strong emotional needs for hospice care in their hearts.Conclusions:There are many high risk factors of perinatal death of newborns after giving up treatment. Sepsis is the primary cause of death, and strengthening perinatal health care is fundamental. Parents have a strong demand for hospice care, so it is of practical significance to implement family-centered hospice care model for such special newborns.

Objective:To explore the potential genetic causes of unexplained neonatal encephalopathy.Methods:This retrospective study enrolled 113 infants diagnosed with unexplained neonatal encephalopathy and underwent genetic testing in the Children's Hospital of Hunan Province from January 2019 to May 2021. Perinatal data, clinical manifestations, electroencephalograph, brain MRI findings, genetic information, and prognosis of those patients were analyzed. T-test or Chi-square test were used for data analysis. Results:Of the 113 infants enrolled, 74 (65.5%) were males. The gestational age at birth was (38.6±1.5) weeks, and the birth weight was (2 957±561) g. The most common clinical manifestation was the disturbance of consciousness (83/113, 73.5%), followed by seizures (39/113, 34.5%). There were 38.2% (34/89) of the patients with abnormal brain MRI, and 80.4% (74/92) presented abnormal electroencephalography. Among the 113 infants, 60 (53.1%) had genetic abnormalities, including 48 with single nucleotide variations, eight with copy number variations, and four with chromosome abnormalities. Single nucleotide variations in the 48 patients were classified into syndromic ( n=18, 37.5%), metabolic ( n=16, 33.3%), epileptic ( n=11, 22.9%) and mitochondrial-related genes ( n=3, 6.3%), of which 14 were not included in any database. Among the 103 cases which were successfully followed up until December 31, 2021, 75 (72.8%) had a poor prognosis, including 52 (50.5%) death cases and 23 (22.3%) cases of development retardation. Birth weight and the incidence of seizures in the poor prognosis group were both lower than those in the non-poor prognosis group [(2 876±536) vs (3 254±554) g, t=3.15; 29.3% (22/75) vs 53.6% (15/28), χ2=5.20; both P<0.05], while the incidence of disturbance of consciousness was higher [80.0% (60/75) vs 53.6% (15/28), χ2=7.19, P<0.05]. The proportion of infants with genetic abnormalities in the poor prognosis group was higher than that in the non-poor prognosis group, but the difference was not statistically significant [53.3% (40/75) vs 46.4% (13/28), χ2=0.39, P=0.533]. Conclusions:Genetic abnormality is one of the leading causes of unexplained neonatal encephalopathy. Nucleotide variation is the most common genetic type. Syndromic, metabolic, and epileptic variants are frequently detected in these patients.

Objective:To analyze the accuracy of lung ultrasound and chest X-ray in the diagnosis of neonatal pulmonary disease.Methods:We prospectively collected newborns that needed chest X-ray examination to diagnose pulmonary disease from twelve neonatal intensive care units across the country between June 2019 and April 2020.Each newborn was examined by lung ultrasound within two hours after chest X-ray examination.All chest X-ray and lung ultrasound images were independently read by a radiologist and a sonographer.When there was a disagreement, a panel of two experienced physicians made a final diagnosis based on the clinical history, chest X-ray and lung ultrasound images.Results:A total of 1 100 newborns were enrolled in our study.The diagnostic agreement between chest X-ray and lung ultrasound(Cohen′s kappa coefficient=0.347) was fair.Lung ultrasound(area under the curve=0.778; 95% CI 0.753-0.803) performed significantly better than chest X-ray(area under the curve=0.513; 95% CI 0.483-0.543) in the diagnosis of transient tachypnea of the newborn( P<0.001). The accuracy of lung ultrasound in diagnosing neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, meconium aspiration syndrome, pneumonia and neonatal pulmonary atelectasis was similar to that of chest X-ray. Conclusion:Lung ultrasound, as a low-cost, simple and radiation-free auxiliary examination method, has a diagnostic accuracy close to or even better than that of chest X-ray, which may replace chest X-ray in the diagnosis of some neonatal lung diseases.It should be noted that both chest X-ray and lung ultrasound can only be used as auxiliary means for the diagnosis of lung diseases, and it is necessary to combine imaging with the clinical history and presentation.

Objective:To study the changes of cord blood neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) under different levels of hypoxia at birth and its correlations with hypoxic organ damage (including liver, kidney and heart).Methods:From April to October 2022, all neonates born in our hospital were prospectively enroll in the study. The neonates without perinatal risk factors were assigned into the control group. The neonates with intrauterine distress or hypoxia during labor were assigned into the hypoxia group (no asphyxia at birth) and the asphyxia group (with asphyxia at birth). Cord blood was collected from the umbilical artery and cord blood gas (CBG) and NGAL were measured. Liver enzymes, kidney function and cardiac enzymes as biomarkers for hypoxic organ damage were measured 24~48 h after birth. The correlations of NGAL and the biomarkers were analyzed.Results:A total of 161 neonates were enrolled, including 91 in the control group, 49 in the hypoxia group and 21 in the asphyxia group. NGAL in the asphyxia group was significantly higher than the hypoxia group and the control group [(1.81±0.71) ng/ml vs. (1.22±0.53) ng/ml, (0.88±0.47) ng/ml], NGAL in the hypoxia group significantly higher than the control group ( P<0.05). NGAL was negatively correlated with Apgar score, pH and BE of CBG ( r<-0.3, P<0.05) and positively correlated with lactate, ALT, creatinine ( r>0.3, P<0.05). No significant correlations existed between NGAL and gender, gestational age, birth weight, mother's age, BMI and CK-MB ( P<0.05). ROC curve showed that sensitivity and specificity of NGAL for predicting hypoxic organ damage were 84.3% and 60.3%, respectively, with a cut-off value of 1.07 ng/ml. Conclusions:Cord blood NGAL may increase with the deterioration of hypoxia at birth and may be associated with hypoxic organ damage.

Objective:To compare the characteristics and differences of intestinal flora in premature infants with late-onset sepsis (LOS) and pneumonia by high-throughput sequencing technology, and to investigate the relationship between intestinal flora and LOS.Methods:Through the case-control method, premature infants with late-onset sepsis who were hospitalized in the neonatal department of Hunan Children′s Hospital from August 2018 to October 2019 were selected as the case group ( n=8). At the same time, premature infants diagnosed with pneumonia were selected as the control group ( n=8). The fecal samples of 16 premature infants were collected for the first time, and the DNA was extracted. The DNA of the target region was amplified by polymerase chain reaction(PCR). High-throughput sequencing was performed using NovaSeq 6000 platform to analyze the composition and diversity of intestinal flora between the two groups. Results:(1) Alpha diversity analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the richness and diversity of intestinal flora between the two groups(all P>0.05). (2) The intestinal flora in premature infants of LOS group and control group were dominated by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, and facultative anaerobes such as Enterococcus and Escherichia-Shigella were the dominant flora at the genus level. Metastas statistical analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in flora composition between the two groups at the phylum level ( P>0.05). (3) Metastas statistical analysis was carried out at the level of class, order, family, genus, and species. The relative abundance of actinomycetes, digestive streptococcaceae and Clostridium in LOS group was higher than that in pneumonia group, and the difference was statistically significant (all P<0.05). (4) The relative abundance of Staphylococcus in the LOS group was significantly greater than that in the control group, but Metastas statistical analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the relative abundance of staphylococcus between the two groups ( P>0.05). (5) Among the 8 cases of LOS, 3 premature infants had positive blood cultures, namely Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus mitis, and Enterococcus faecalis. Enterococcus faecalis belongs to the genus Enterococcus, and Enterococcus belongs to the dominant genus in the LOS group. Conclusions:Different site infections have effects on intestinal microecology of premature infants. There were differences in intestinal flora composition between premature infants with LOS and premature infants with pneumonia.

Objective:To study the clinical efficacy, safety and prognosis of systemic hypothermia therapy on neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)initiated at different times after birth.Method:From January 2013 to August 2018, term neonates (within 12 hours after birth) diagnosed with neonatal moderate to severe HIE and received systemic treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit of our hospital were retrospectively included. According to the starting time of hypothermia therapy, the neonates were assigned into three groups: within 6 h after birth (TH1 group), 6~12 h (TH2 group) and conventional treatment group (control group). Their clinical data during perinatal period, hospitalization period and follow-up at 6-month were reviewed. Their clinical and neurodevelopmental outcomes were compared using SPSS 25.0 statistical software.Result:A total of 147 neonates with moderate to severe HIE were enrolled. 111 received 72-hour hypothermia therapy, including 79 in the TH1 group, 32 in the TH2 group and 36 in the control group. The neurobehavioral test scores at 10-day of life in the TH1 group were significantly higher than the control group ( P<0.05). No significant differences existed among the TH2 group, the TH1 group and the control group ( P>0.05). The brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed injuries in the TH1 group and the TH2 group were significantly milder than the control group ( P<0.05). No significant differences of brain injuries existed between TH1 group and TH2 group ( P>0.05). 100 patients completed Bailey Infant Intelligence Development Scale at 6-month follow-up. 21 had abnormal scores. No statistically significant differences existed in the psychomotor development index (PDI) scores among the three groups ( P>0.05). TH1 and TH2 groups had significantly fewer cases with mental development index (MDI) <70 points than the control group ( P<0.05). No statistically significant differences existed of MDI scores between the TH1 group and the TH2 group ( P>0.05). No statistically significant differences existed of PDI scores among the 3 groups ( P>0.05). At 6-month, the mortality rate of the control group (32.1%, 9/28) was significantly higher than the TH1 group (6.6%, 4/61) ( P<0.05). No significant differences existed of mortality rate at 6-month among the TH2 group, the TH1 group and the control group ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Systemic hypothermia therapy for neonatal HIE is safe. Starting systemic hypothermia therapy at 6~12-hour after birth may also be effective in reducing mortality rate and improving neurodevelopmental outcome.

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