There is a widespread shortage of physicians worldwide, especially in rural areas. This shortage is more prevalent when it comes to subspecialty care, even in developed countries. One way to provide access to specialty care is using technology via telemedicine. Telemedicine has evolved over the last two decades, and its use is becoming widespread in developed countries. However, its use in the neonatal population is still limited and practiced only in some centers. It is now apparent that telemedicine can be successfully used in the neonatal population for screening premature infants for retinopathy of prematurity, congenital heart disease, bedside clinical rounds, neonatal resuscitation with the support of a tertiary care hospital, and family support. This avoids unnecessary transfer and appears to provide the same quality of care that the baby would have received at the tertiary care facility. This approach also improves family satisfaction, as the baby and the mother are kept together, and reduces the cost of care. This review focuses on the use of telemedicine in neonatal care, concentrating on the main areas where telemedicine has been shown to be successful and effective, including the status of telemedicine in China.
China ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Mass Screening ; Neonatology ; Telemedicine

Late preterm infants (LPI) are preterm infants born at a gestational age between 34 and 0/7 weeks to 36 6/7 weeks. Because of their physiologic and metabolic immaturities, they are at increased risk for a spectrum of morbidities and mortality when compared to the term infants. LPI are "great pretenders and masqueraders", as they pretend to be and masquerading as term infants. Because of their size, frequently they are treated as term infants with potential for bad consequences. In this review, the incidence and high risk factors for late preterm deliveries, early morbidities, late complications and management are described. Computerized data bases such as PubMed, OVID and Embase were searched between January 2005 and March 2012, by using the search terms, Late Preterm Infants and Near Term Infants. From this detailed search available, evidence based guidelines were incorporated in the care of these LPI.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Morbidity ; Risk Factors

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia ; etiology ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Lung ; pathology ; physiology ; physiopathology ; Respiration, Artificial ; adverse effects ; methods ; trends

Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Ibuprofen ; therapeutic use ; Indomethacin ; therapeutic use ; Ligation ; Time Factors